The name Niha is of
Syriac origin, meaning calm, repose, or dreams.
There are in Lebanon no less than three localities
bearing this name, a mountain, a peak, and a village.
To find them we must go the administrative district,
or caza, of the Shouf, to a point nearly 4,000 feet
high and first explore the fortress hewn out of
the cliff face and poised between heaven and earth.
The summit of Mount Sannine to the north reaches
some 9,000 feet, while Niha Castle, Hosn Niha in
Arabic, stands at a little over 4,000. The fortress
is just forty miles from the capital Beirut and
may be reached by turning south from the road to
Deir el-Qamar.
There are many caves and grottoes on the side of
the mountain. The troglodyte fortification we speak
of was called Tyron’s Cave by the Francs and Shqeef
Tayroun by Arabic sources. The rock face in which
it was carved out overlooks the valley of Bisri
and Aray. As from this position one may watch the
pass between Sidon (Saida) and the Beqaa Valley
in the interior, the site is of strategic importance.
The fortress holds a fair number of silos and store
rooms to allow the stocking of cereals and ammunition.
It is thoroughly fortified and is faced with a rock
wall pierced by openings. Passage from one level
to another is made possible thanks to wooden beams
buttressing the cliff. This citadel dominates the
whole region and because of its situation is both
strategic and impregnable. Cavities, rooms and corridors
stretch over a hundred yards, hewn in such a way
as to provide protection for the defenders. Other
works served domestic purposes, for storing food
and other provisions as well as munitions. Rain
water is run into cisterns and wells and more water
is drawn from the spring of Al-Halqoum. Here we
have a citadel indeed, secured by fortifications
and wall with its openings. It was built over several
levels in a way allowing smooth organization. There
are stands for horses, outworks to make access easy,
, canalizations, and clay pipes to carry rain and
spring water to the cisterns and basins dug out
of the rock, a well, a deep trench, a kitchen, stairs
and rooms as well as the silos for cereals and other
foodstuffs.
The citadel was first mentioned in the year 975
A.D. and then again in 1133 when it was occupied
by Dahhak ben Jandel al-Tamin. However, in the same
year it passed from his hands to those of the authorities
in Damascus. In 1165 the Crusaders got hold of it
but after the partisans of Mussol entered into the
fray in 1282 it was taken by the Muslim Amalek Saleh
Ismaïl. In 1241 it came into the possession
of the Crusaders again.
In 1251 the governor of Saïda led an army to
retake the fortress and then in 1257 gave it to
the care of the Teutonic Knights, who kept control
of it for only a short time. In 1261 the Tartars
invaded Damascus and sent Shehab ad-Deen Bahta to
attack and destroy the fortress. In 1270 Baybar
seized Damascus and ordered Niha Castle to be restored.
In 1585 Emir Qorqmaz Mann took refuge there shortly
before his death and in 1633 his son Emir Fakhreddeen
II the Great hid in the fortress with his family,
only to be seized and finally put to death in the
year 1635.
The place is well worth a visit, for it breathes
history and its walls are redolent of events of
Lebanon’s past.
Joseph and William Matar
Translation from the French : Kenneth Mortimer
