Between the 11th and the 13th century (1095 CE and 1270) the Crusaders and their Muslim opponents build, renovated, and continually strengthened many Strongholds, fortresses, and castles to defend themselves against each other. Over the decades and centuries, the balance of power would shift constantly between the Crusading forces and the regional Muslim armies. At the end of
the crusades the Muslims destroyed almost all crusader strongholds, fortresses, and castles in the Levant. On their way to the Holy Land the Crusaders discovered the impressing Byzantine structures. The Byzantines always had a lot of manpower, but the Crusaders were faced with a short of manpower and could not maintain large garrisons. Therefor they choose strategic sites who could be used to their fullest advantage. They constructed stronger, easier to build and to defend fortifications with thick and high walls to stand up to a direct
attack.
It was unsafe to send scouts from fortress to fortress to deliver messages and to warn for coming enemies. Scouts were often ambushed and killed. Therefore, each stronghold was built insight from each other. In this way they could signal each other. During the day the Crusaders used smoke signals and during the night fire signals. After building fortresses the Crusaders brought their wives and children to the levant. Fortresses were not only military strongholds but also used as homes and centres of government. European castles were usually solid square keeps or donjons. The
Crusaders changed the castle architecture. They build castles with round towers because they offered a better field of fire and were stronger to withstood bombardments. They added portcullis, bent entrances, chapels. , storerooms, offices for civil servants and much more. Most of these fortresses can be found on along the coastline of the Levant. They are mostly built on the highest places of the kurkar sandstone ridges. Kurkar is the product of windblown quarzitic sands which created dunes during the Pleistocene. These dunes were cemented by carbonates transforming them to sandstone (lithification process), forming successive ridges along the shore. Kurkar is a soft sandstone that easily and
quickly erodes. We also can say it is fossilized sea sandstone. Kurkar is mostly used for exterior and interior cladding. The Crusaders left behind buildings and fortresses build of local quarried Kurkar stone. 3 Examples are Castelum Beroart in Ashdod and the fortresses of Askelon and, Caesarea. Because of his softness kurkar sandstone is also used as exterior and interior cladding. Many coastal fortresses are in danger because of the rising sea level. Measures to protect them against erosion are desperately needed.
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