Page "Krak des Chevaliers" Paragraph 28

Writing in the early 20th century, T. E. Lawrence, popularly known as Lawrence of Arabia, remarked that Krak des Chevaliers was " perhaps the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world, castle which forms a fitting commentary on any account of the Crusading buildings of Syria ".

Castles in Europe provided lordly accommodation for their owners and were centres of administration ; in the Levant the need for defence was paramount and was reflected in castle design.

Kennedy suggests that " The castle scientifically designed as a fighting machine surely reached its apogee in great buildings like Margat and Crac des Chevaliers.