Lebanon in a Picture

Easier to Get There Than it Looks. From at least the 10th Century and... (Niha Fortress - قلعة نيحا)

Easier to Get There Than it Looks. From at least the 10th Century and... (Niha Fortress - قلعة نيحا) Easier to Get There Than it Looks. From at least the 10th Century and possibly earlier, the cliff face redoubt at Niha has been used to control the Sidon-Beka’a road below. Occupied by the Crusaders and the Mamluks and rebuilt in the 13th Century, rooms were carved into the rock to house soldiers and their horses, as well as grain silos and water reservoirs. Originally, there would have been a wood and stone façade, which not made the fort secure but also created extra space, making it more capacious than it looks today. Parts of the ruins have been excavated and can be visited, although there is a labyrinth of rooms and corridors that have yet to be excavated on the other side of a small chasm and the recent attempted plunder of a previously hidden cave just above the fort, suggests that the area has plenty of secrets, yet. Niha’s most important claim to fame is that according to folklore, Emir Fakhreddine hid here for several months, as he sought to escape the Pasha of Damascus, who was under orders from Sultan Murad IV to bring him to trial in Istanbul.
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