Reminiscence from the Levant: Part Seven– Remembering Krac De Chevaliers

Have you ever gawked at the image of Mariam Fares… Among all the glamorous Lebanese singers, I rate her the most beautiful and glamorous…. No Haifa Wehbe, No Nancy Ajram, No Rola Saad… one look at her and you will know why I say so.

She is a Maronite Christian… so are Nancy Ajram and Rola Saad… Maronite Christians live in the hilly northern regions of Lebanon… very much contiguous to the Syrian hills… and before the division, they were the same entity… so most of the Christians in Syria and Lebanon share the same gene pool, if not sect. And are they beautiful!!!!! Google Mariam Fares and decide for yourself.

As soon as Abdu realized (and wrongly so) that I was a Christian… he offered me to take to a place called Saint George Monastery a few kilometers before Krac De Chevaliers…the Monastery was beautiful… but the visitors to the monastery were more so. It was, luckily, a Sunday.

Saint George has a beautiful setting… atop a plateau that overlooks a serene valley…and far away, you can see a faint Krac De Chevaliers that plays hide and seek with the mountain mist, crowning over the hill range…even in a summer afternoon.

The church has three parts… a monastery, an administrative building and then a beautiful two floored church, with the basement having a small old church from the yesteryears used for religious ceremonies and a big church built over it for mass usages…. I visited the big church first… In its make and décor; it was quite similar to the Hanging Church in Cairo. Pictures depicting the Christian mythology… an altar to light candles… it was like I was standing in the Hanging Church once again…. For the first time over here, I was introduced to the beautiful art of Madaba mosaics…(In which huge portraits and scenes were depicted by the mosaics of small coloured stones… an art so beautiful that it can mesmerize you for hours together). Right below this church was a smaller older church that is used for religious ceremonies like baptism, marriages etc.

The church was flocked by local Christian families…beautiful faces all around… a small little girl attired in bridal wear, caught my attention. She was no more than two or three years of age. I asked her mother about the occasion in broken Arabic, she smiled and answered me in fluent English… it was her baptism ceremony… and after knowing that I am from India, invited me over to join the ceremony. I sat on a wooden chair and intently watch the ceremony… After the ceremony, I rushed outside the church and bought a small rose bud and gifted it to the young girl… she smiled and so did I.

I proceeded towards the most magical Krac De Chevaliers… also called Qalaat Al Husn (Citadel of beauty)… famous for its beauty and magnificence. So beautiful it is, that T.E. Lawrence (the famed Lawrence of Arabia) termed it as “the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world” and so magnificent it was that it inspired an entire generation of forts in entire Europe… so in a sense it is mother of all forts.

When Crusader used to come from Europe to the mainland Levant, for their conquest of Jerusalem… they faced the Lebanese hills as the first obstacle… and there was only one way to avoid these hills, the Homs Gap. Perched atop a 600 meter hill, this mighty castle overlooks the Homs Gap and therefore could have challenged any possible incursion from the Gap. The fort was constructed by the kings of Aleppo for exactly this purpose… but at that time it was not properly fortified and therefore fell into the hands of Crusaders… who handed it to the mighty Knights Templar, a efficient commando-like force created to protect the Christian pilgrims on their journey to Jerusalem (And if you have read Da Vinci Code… they had a secret purpose, too- probably that of securing and guarding the Holy Grail. When I first heard their name in Krac- I shivered). However it was won back by the mighty Salahuddin and then was held by the Mamluks and then the Ottomans. (Mamluks were an interesting lot, literally Mamluk means a slave… They were brought to the Middle East from the Far East as slaves cum neutral soldiers and Islamized- Before them the nobles and Princes who became bigger than their shoe posed serious challenge to the Kings often usurping power, the King's military was hardly neutral and used to side with one side or the other... thus it was thought that Mamluks will serve the purpose of a neutral armed force, but it was not to be. They rose in ranks, usurped power and formed one of the mightiest dynasties of the region. Initial representations of Mamluks are with distinctly Mongolian features.)

The fort itself is huge… it is one of the finest specimens for a novice like me… one can see an entire city inside it… stables, kitchen, mess, prayer halls, living quarter, two rows of defences, watch tower, mazes… and what not. Give yourself at least two hours to feel the magic of the place… the fort is amazingly well kept and therefore remains quite self explanatory. Take a stroll around and discover its logic and magic.

Near the watch tower I met a beautiful little kid with his younger brother. They had rushed ahead leaving their family behind and were quarrelling over something. I asked them if I can take their photograph, they readily agreed and forgot their quarrel to pose as wonderful friends…. They become very friendly with me and started following me everywhere. And then all of a sudden the elder brother asked me as to where I am from. I told them that I am from India… prompting a reply from him… he told me gleefully that he was a Muhajir from Iraq, I was touched- and wondered if only he could understand what it means being a refugee. I felt something amiss within me, when I waved a good bye to this kid.

Abdu later told me that Syria is one of the main destinations for the beleaguered Iraqis and this exodus is a human tragedy… qualified Engineers are working as chauffeurs and petty labourers, many women have taken to prostitution and prices have swollen to ridiculous levels in Syria, because of this influx.

I left Krac for Homs… where I took a bus for Tadmor, the land of date trees and the ruins of Palmyra.