By Mashhour Abu Eid
AMMAN, Oct 13 (KUNA) -- The Salah Al-Din Citadel, which was built on the mountains of Jordan's Ajloun city roughly 800 years ago, shows the intelligence of Islamic military engineering.
Izz Al-Din Osama, one of the commanders of Salah Al-Din, built the citadel at the request of Salah Al-Din in 1184 AD to stop the spread of Crusader forces and to be a focal point for communication between the Levant and the Hijaz.
The purpose of the fortress, which was built at an altitude of 1,023 meters above sea level, was to control the area between Lake Tiberias in Palestine and the Dead Sea in the south.
The goal was also to protect trade routes with Damascus and northern Syria, and to also prevent the Crusaders from expanding east of the Jordan River.
The castle is semi-square with four towers, each tower consisting of two floors.
After the Battle of Hattin in 1187 that resulted in the liberation of Jerusalem from the Crusaders, two towers were added, located to the right of the entrance to the castle, which has a museum containing many artifacts and has a deep trench with an average width of 16 meters as well as a depth of 12-15 meters. (end) ab.lr