Byblos Citadel

Byblos Castle is adjacent to the Phoenician archaeological site containing the ruins of the Temple of Baalat Gebal and the Temple of the Obelisks

Byblos Castle is a Crusader castle in Byblos, Lebanon.

In Crusader times it was known as the Castle of Gibelet, also spelled Giblet, which belonged to the Genoese Embriaco family, Lords of the city. It is adjacent to the Phoenician archaeological site containing the ruins of the Temple of Baalat Gebal and the Temple of the Obelisks. The castle was built by the Crusaders in the 12th century from indigenous limestone and the remains of Roman structures.

The finished structure was surrounded by a moat. It belonged to the Genoese Embriaco family, whose members were the Lords of Gibelet from 1100 to the late 13th century. Saladin captured the town and castle in 1188 and partially dismantled the walls in 1190. Later, the Crusaders recaptured Byblos and rebuilt the fortifications of the castle in 1197. In 1369, the castle had to fend off an attack from Cypriot vessels from Famagusta. The Byblos Castle has distinguished historical buildings for neighbors. Nearby stand a few Egyptian temples, the Phoenician royal necropolis and the Roman Amphitheatre.