THE TOWER OF SAFITA
The tower of Safita at the top of three hills
makes the heart feel awe and peace
whenever it raises its head higher
the cloud bends in order to kiss its forehead.
The words above were said in an interview about the
Tower of Safita or White Tower (Chastel Blanc) which continues to stand
as always at the highest top of the hills of Safita, defying proudly
the time, boasting about its great history and its past glory. It took
its name from its white stones that measure 2x1x1 metres. Its height is
30 metres, its width is 50 metres, its length is 70 metres and it is
constituted of two floors. In the first floor there is an orthodox
church and the thickness of its wall is roughly 5 metres. This floor
was built with stone blocks the thickness of which increases as long as
the height of the wall increases. The walls converge at an arch 15
metres high. This kind of structure of the floor strengthens the
building despite the increased weight and the great pressure on
its base. Thus there is no need for any columns although the floor
has such a great extent (capacity of about 2000 individuals).
Its flooring is covered with big stone plates. There
are small windows which have outside width 20 cm, but their width
inside is 1,5 metres.These windows were used by the archers and the
defenders of the tower to stop the attacks. There is a unique iron
entrance gate manufactured from many stromas which are connected with
long nails. From inside it is secured with long iron latches the
diameter of which is10 cm and the length is 2 metres. There is a lock
outside. Above the gate there are openings used to cast caustic liquid
upon the enemies in case they had invaded into the castle after they
destroyed the gate. When the crusaders occupied the tower they engraved
a cross, that exists up to our days, in the intermediate stone of the
arch above the gate. They also renamed it to ''The Tower of the knights
of the temple'' before it takes its last name ''The White Tower''.
One can go up to the second floor using stairs which
are integrated into the wall. These stairs have been partially
destroyed. As the sunlight enters through the windows with the narrow
exterior and the wide interior opening, it appears as sun beams. The
flooring of the second floor is earthen and the ceiling is robustly
supported by multifaced columns. These columns are 150 cm in diametre
and have wide capitals in their upper part. The windows of the second
floor have the same shape with those in the first floor. Its walls are
narrower than the walls of the first floor. A big bell is hung on the
eastern side wall in a big gap and its sound reaches the surrounding
villages up to 5 kilometres from Safita. Stairs are found on this
floor, that lead to the terrace. The impressive view from the terrace
charms the visitors, who are able to see the ever covered with snow
mountains of Lebanon, as well as Tripoli, the second capital of
Lebanon; Tripoli is almost 60 kilometres away from Safita. One also
takes a look at the valley of Akar, which extends from the Mina area of
Tripoli up to the city of Tal-kalah in the prefecture of Emesa (Hems).
Westwards the Mediterranean Sea is visible, northern the city of Drekis
and the mountains of Kadmus, easternwards the castle of Hosn and the
town of Mashta. Mashta is a modern touristic centre with excellent
view, abundant water sources and well structured hotels, restaurants
and coffee shops, which can satisfy the most demanding visitor.
Nearby Mashta, in the area of Kafroun there are
cafeterias and restaurants. The mountain of Virgin Mary is also there
and is visited by thousands of people on Virgin Mary's name day. The
mountain forms an enormous pyramid whith many villages scattered around
it in a fertile valley with abundant water. This place is a paradise on
earth. North-easterly, the church of prophet Mata and the castle of
Suleyman are visible.
During the French colonialism, efforts to restore
the tower of Safita were made using big instruments that were set up
around it and which caused great impression to the lay residents of
Safita. There are two big walls surrounding the tower. The first wall
lies in a distance of 100 to 150 metres away from the tower. A part
from its eastern side still remains. It is called the gate of the
palace; an awesome gate that people use to go to the Church. This gate
is an arch 7 metres high in an enormous wall the height of which is 23
metres. Near this gate there are two inverted statues. It is alleged
that an emperor got angry with his two wives, as he believed they had
deceived him, so he gave command to sculpture their inverted statues. A
lot of houses around the tower were built using the stones of the first
wall of the tower.
There are many houses nearby the first wall until our
days. The second wall lies 1000 metres away from the first wall,
however only a minimal section remained. A part of it was the tower of
“Alzet” which was found easterly of the White Tower but it
was destroyed by the Municipality of Safita. They unfortunately did not
maintain it. In its place a commercial centre was built.
The first report about Safita, as a centre of
defence of the Phoenician coast of Syria, goes back to the Phoenician
era. It is also referred in historical texts such as in the season of
Sultan of the state of Ewbeans (Musa al Ashraf 1228-1237 A.C), who made
treaty with the emperor of Sicily Frederick the second. The Sultan
yielded the town of Beirut, Safad and the lake of Tiberius to the
emperor. The small state of Sultan was left with Tripoli, the castle of
Hosn, Safita, Markeb, Tartous and Antioch. Safita is also reported in
the raids of Ibrahim Pasha, son of Mohamed Ali. In the year 1832 Barbar
Aga, governor of Tripoli asked Taher Mahfoud, the governor of Safita to
organize an army for the deterrence of Ibrahim Pasha’s raid. That
undertaking however was unsuccessful.