Fortress of al-Al


The Fortress of al-Al was a short-lived castle built on the Golan Heights in Terre de Suète by Hugh of Saint Omer in 1105.

Doubts about existence

, in his monumental Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, plainly states that there has been no such castle at all. He considers it to be a legend that must have begun with someone identifying the Arabic name of the site, Qasr Bardawil, with the Crusader king Baldwin I, called Bardawil in Arabic chronicles. The legend with all its elements was copied from one author to the next, including by noted medievalists Runciman and Prawer, until the archaeological survey done by Israeli archaeologists right after the Six-Day War, in 1968, and published in 1972 dated the site to the Bronze Age.

Presumed history

Denys Pringle mentions the castle as being built by Baldwin I. The history of the castle is based on the works of Damascene politician and chronicler ibn al-Qalanisi, which are interpreted as to say that Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus, destroyed the castle in December of the same year.
It was known as Qasr Bardawil, the Castle of Baldwin. The castle was one of three, including Chastel Neuf and the castle at Toron, built in the region. The uncompleted castle was first used in 1106 and Hugh was killed returning there after a successful raid in Damascene territory. Toghtekin, not wishing to have a Frankish stronghold so close to Damascus, attacked the site and imprisoned the garrison, throwing the stones of the castle into the ravine below. The Franks then abandoned the site as too difficult to defend, relocating to Cave de Suète.