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Beaufort Castle

Kumari Sonali

Beaufort Castle:

Beaufort Castle — known locally as Qalaat al-Shaqif or the “Castle of the High Rock”, is a medieval fortress situated atop a commanding hill near the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.

  • Originally built by Crusaders in the 12th century, the castle has changed hands multiple times throughout history, passing through Crusader, Muslim, Mamluk, and Ottoman control.
  • It is one of the best-preserved examples of medieval castles in the Near East.
  • Its impressive architecture, with a high castle and a low castle, demonstrates its defensive role in the Middle Ages.
  • It overlooks vast stretches of southern Lebanon, the Litani River valley, and parts of northern Israel, making it a position of considerable strategic value.
  • The castle has also been at the centre of fighting in the past.
  • In 1982, amid the Lebanon War, Israel captured Beaufort Castle from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and held it until it withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.