The Crusaders

From the 7th century until the 11th century the Muslims ruled over the land of Israel, including the holy places for the Christians.

During the RELIVE THE BIBLE TOURS, you will get to visit many sites with Crusader remnants: Caesarea, Jerusalem, and Acre. Join us in one of these tours.

On the 11th century the Pope tried to assemble special forces to conquer the holy places in Israel and to build the new Kingdom of Jerusalem (that’s how they called Israel).

There were a number of Crusades that traveled from Europe to Israel and tried to conquer it. Only in 1099 the Crusaders succeeded to conquer Israel and to build the Kingdom of Jerusalem which spread over most of what we know as Israel today.

They began to rebuild again the Holy Sepulcher and it was opened to the public in 1149. That is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that is standing today. Needless to mention it is part of the RELIVE THE BIBLE TOURS.

The Crusaders built fortresses in many strategic locations across the land of Israel. They tried to network these fortresses so that from each fortress you could view at least other fortress, and in some cases two or even three fortresses. These fortresses served as their living quarters as well as hosting the pilgrims who came to the Holy places in the Holy Land.

The Crusaders ruled over Israel until 1291 after they lost their last stronghold – Acre – to the Mamluks.

The Crusaders left their mark in many places in Israel and there are many archaeological remnants all over Israel, especially in Jerusalem, Caesarea (refer to my post of yesterday featuring a picture of the entrance gate to Caesarea built by the Crusaders), and Acre.

The Belvoir Fortress is one of the fortresses in the network described above. It is 20 km south of the Sea of Galilee, strategically located, and boasts an incredible view of the entire Jordan Valley and the Gilad Ridge.

Enjoy the video.

To compliment this video, I recommend watching the aerial view video of the Belvoir Fortress, also in this BLOG.