5/5 Nabil K. 6 years ago on Google • 634 reviews
The
site
now
occupied
the
Castle
of
St.
Louis
is
said
to
have
been
the
acropolis
of
the
ancient
city.
Some
remains
of
this
acropolis
still
exist,
including
a
theater.
The
citadel
was
probably
completely
demolished
and
then
rebuilt
by
the
Arabs.[2]
To
the
south
of
the
citadel
is
a
mound
of
debris
called
Murex
Hill.
A
talus
of
crushed
shells
of
murex
shells
(correctly,
specimens
of
Bolinus
brandaris
and
Hexaplex
trunculus)
along
the
western
slope
can
still
be
seen.
This
artificial
mound
(100
m.
long
and
50
m.
high)
was
formed
by
the
accumulation
of
refuse
from
the
purple
dye
factories
of
Phoenician
times.
Mosaic
tiling
at
the
top
of
the
mound
suggests
that
Roman
buildings
were
erected
there
when
the
area
was
no
longer
used
as
the
city's
dumping
ground.
Part
of
the
hill
today
is
covered
by
the
cemetery
of
the
Muslim
Shiite
community
of
Sidon.
The
site
of
the
citadel
became
a
fortress
in
the
10th
century,
when
Fatimid
Caliph
Al-Mu'izz
li-Din
Allah
fortified
it
and
gave
it
the
name
Qalaat
al
Muizz.
The
castle
as
it
is
today
was
built
in
1254
by
crusaders
during
the
Frankish
occupation
of
Sidon.
The
French
king,
Louis
IX,
better
known
as
St.
Louis,
appears
to
have
spent
a
long
time
at
the
castle,
and
this
is
perhaps
why
the
site
is
named
after
him.
When
the
Arabs
reoccupied
the
city,
the
castle
was
restored.
It
was
damaged
later
on
by
the
Mamluks,
and
was
extensively
rebuilt
by
Fakhr-al-Din
II
in
the
17th
century.[1]
The
castle
was
then
looted
a
number
of
times,
leaving
the
structure
in
ruins.
Part
of
the
castle
collapsed
during
the
end
of
the
Ottoman
era.[3]
The
castle
served
as
a
shelter
for
refugees
of
the
1948
Palestinian
exodus.
It
was
further
damaged
by
Israeli
shelling.
Plans
are
being
made
to
restore
the
castle.[3]
