Mseilha Fort The Mseilha Fort ( ) also known as " Puy du Connétable " is a medieval fortification situated north of the city of Batroun in Lebanon . The current fort was built by Emir Fakhreddine II in the 17th century to guard the route from Tripoli to Beirut . The fort is built on a long , narrow limestone rock near the Nahr el - Jawz River . Its walls are constructed with small sandstone blocks quarried from the nearby coast and built onto the edge of the limestone rock . The thickness of the walls ranges from 1 . 5 to 2 meters ( 4 to 6 . 5 feet ) . The larger limestone blocks are the only remains of an earlier structure probably built for the same defensive reason . Architecture and Layout . The fort ' s architectural design consists of two homogenous sections built in two separate phases . The fort is approached through a narrow path and small stairway cut into the northern side of the bedrock . A small platform precedes the low arched main gate , secured by two loopholes and a small opening in the ceiling above the entrance . The main gate leads to a vaulted vestibule , followed by a narrow triangular courtyard , giving access to a small one meter ( 3 feet ) wide passageway leading to the archery room of the west tower . At the southern side of the courtyard , two vaulted bays are constructed within a separate architectural block over large underground arched halls used as warehouses and cistern s . This part of the structure has a small apse oriented towards the Qibla ( the direction of Mecca , which could have been used as a prayer room by the guards . The more elevated part of the fort is access through the east side of the main courtyard . A doorway leading to a hall , followed by three vaulted rooms , gives access to the eastern tower . An internal stairway leads to the room on the first floor . This section is the most fortified and equipped part of the castle due to its strategic position controlling the entrance of the Nahr el - Jawz valley . History of the Fort . Following the collapse of the promontory of Ras ech - Chaqa ' a ( also known as Theoprosopon ) in 551 A . D . , the coastal road linking the cities of Batroun , El - Heri and Tripoli completely disappeared , transforming the northern shoreline into a high sea cliff . Consequently , a new road bypassing the promontory from the east was necessary to ensure communication between Batroun and the North . Crossing the Nahr el - Jawz valley , this road turns around Ras ech - Chaqa ' a promontory to reach the other side at a spot near El - Heri called Bab el - Hawa ( meaning the " door of the wind " ) . Building edified strongholds along this new road was of great strategic and military importance in order to preserve security and ensure communication and traffic control . The Mseilha Fort was built for such purposes . A number of scholars have studied the history and architecture of Mseilha . Some assume that the rock on which the fort stands was used since ancient times as a military position . However , the fort does not include in its current construction any element related to an earlier period , even the Crusades . The construction techniques , cutting methods , stone block sizes , low arched doors and windows , in addition to the other elements suggest the 17th century as the earliest period for the current structure to have been built . The work of several prominent historians and scholars confirms that the Mseilha Fort is not more than 400 years old . Nineteenth - century French historian Ernest Renan could not relate the architectural elements in Mseilha to anything earlier than the Middle Age . Paul Deschamps , a notable 20th - century historian of Crusader architecture , confirmed the lack of any aspect of Crusader - era work in the fort . Jean de la Roque ( a French traveler , 1661 - 1743 ) corroborates , after hearing from locals in 1689 that Mseilha was the work of Emir Fakhr ed - Dine II , the former sovereign of Lebanon from 1590 - 1635 . This testimony came almost 50 years after Fakhr ed - Dine ' s death from locals who eye - witnessed the fort ' s construction . This account is also validated by local chronicles . For example , father Mansour al - Hattouny stated that around 1624 , Emir Fakhr ed - Dine ordered Sheikh Abi Nader al - Khazen to build the fort north of Batroun . According to Tannous ach - Chidiaq , another local historian , al - Khazen later restored the fort in 1631 , less than 10 years after its initial construction . Therefore , the year 1624 is established by both historians and eye - witness reports as the construction date of Mseilha by Fakhr ed - Dine II . Further confirmation was attested by Ludwig Burckhardt , a renowned orientalist who visited the region in the early 19th - century , dating the fort to a recent period . Even if the strategic importance of the site was exploited since antiquity , the fort itself cannot be dated earlier that the 17th century . The Mseilha fort was given to the Genoese Embriaco family who ruled over Gibelet by Bertrand de Saint - Gilles for employing the Genoese fleet in his service during the taking of Tripoli . In 2007 , restoration works was undertaken to make the site safe to visitors , by building a long fence around the citadel and providing several entrance and exit doors . The foundation of the staircase was consolidated and metal handrails were installed . Works also included landscaping , rain water drains installation to prevent water from leaking into the citadel and repaving the access road to the citadel from the highway nearby . The windmill located near the fort was also restored . Funded by USAID , these works are a continuation of a project conducted by SRI International - INMA to rehabilitate the fort , in cooperation with the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Culture - Directorate General of Antiquities . The restoration of Mseilha , as well as subsequent promotion of the site by the national telecommunication company Ogero , led to a rise in the number of visitors .