Krak & Beaufort.

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Krak of the Chevaliers.

Krak of the Horsemen.

Krak! That most perfect Crusader castle. That best preserved Crusader castle. That most impregnable Crusader castle.

Krak now damaged as a result of the Syrian civil war.

"air raid on Crac des Chevaliers castle damage one of its towers"

As reported by YNet, Krak suffering damage, a direct bomb hit evidently on a turret. To what extent the destruction this unclear.

Krak virtually impregnable. Perhaps not even sustaining a concerted and determined assault, so formidable was the defenses of Krak.

Krak NOW the devastation and weaponry of modern warfare damaging that castle the structure hitherto basically untouched even after many centuries.

See here some interesting images of Krak and other "Levantine castles" as taken in part by French reconnaissance aircraft in that period just prior to the Second World War.

That area at the base of Krak on one side now a town of considerable size ONLY of recent origin?

Beaufort castle another Crusader stronghold the damage of which during a period of many centuries many times worse than Krak.

Images of Beaufort castle on the Internet showing a pile of mountain top rubble however not doing justice to the entire assemblage. Intact to an extent, again, the damage as sustained over a period of CENTURIES QUITE EXTENSIVE!

See here much better images of Beaufort castle in entirety.

Beaufort also a victim of modern warfare and modern weaponry. Beaufort castle occupying DOMINANT TERRAIN OF INTEREST TO VARIOUS WARRING FACTIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST TO INCLUDE THE ISRAELI, PALESTINIANS, HEZBOLLAH.

These Crusader castles are justifiably so World Heritage Sites NOT being preserved as would be desired, Or EVEN AS THE RECENT CASE THE CITADEL OF ALEPPO A STRONGHOLD OF THE SYRIAN INSURGENTS AND REMAINING A PLACE OF BATTLE!

Crusader castles and in some cases the dominant terrain [such as at Beaufort castle] still in the modern age having both a symbolic and even a pertinent military value.

coolbert.