Raqqa
Qal'at Ja'bar is a castle on a rocky hill above the Euphrates, now standing on a peninsula in Lake Assad. Its walls of brick and stone date mainly from the…
Qal'at Ja'bar is a castle on a rocky hill above the Euphrates, now standing on a peninsula in Lake Assad. Its walls of brick and stone date mainly from the twelfth century. In 1146 the ruler Imad al-Din Zangi, the father of Nur al-Din, was killed in his tent while besieging the castle, and it was later rebuilt by Nur al-Din and the Ayyubids. The tomb of Sulayman Shah, honoured by the Turks as the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, stood near the castle until it was moved when the lake was created. The castle is reached by a causeway and has fine views over the water.