Mseilha Fort

Lebanon, Lebanon

---

Mseilha Fort (Arabic: Qalʿat al‑Mseilha, also known as the Castle of Mseilha or Puy du Connétable) is a medieval fortress north of the village of Hamat, just outside Batroun in northern Lebanon, perched dramatically on a long, narrow limestone ridge above the Nahr el‑Jawz (Walnut River) valley.

The original fortifications on the site date to the Crusader period, when they were built to defend the narrow passage that skirts the rocky mass of Ras Shaq, but the current structure was largely rebuilt and adapted in the 17th century by Emir Fakhr al‑Din II (around 1624) to guard the important coastal route between Tripoli and Beirut after an earthquake forced the road to be rerouted inland.

Its walls are made of small sandstone blocks set onto the edge of the limestone rock and reach 1.5 to 2 meters in thickness, with a layout that includes a narrow arched entrance, a central hall with passageways to various rooms, thick defensive walls, and strategically placed watchtowers and arrow slits that blend Ottoman‑style construction with traces of earlier Crusader defenses.