قلعة الشقيف

Yesterday afternoon, my friends and I explored Beaufort–an impressive cliff-side Crusader castle in southern Lebanon. From Saladin to the PLO and beyond, this 12th century castle, which towers above the Litani River, has changed hands countless times over the centuries. T.E. Lawrence named it the finest medieval castle in the region, and Herbert Kitchener included it in his 1881 Survey of Western Palestine. While exploring each nook and cranny of the castle, my friends and I stumbled across several battle scars from the last occupiers who left it behind…