Belvoir Fortress ( Israel ) Belvoir Fortress ( , Kohav HaYarden ) is a Crusader fortress in northern Israel , on a hill south of the Sea of Galilee . Gilbert of Assailly , Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller , began construction of the castle in 1168 . The restored fortress is located in Belvoir National Park . It is the best - preserved Crusader fortress in Israel . History . The Knights Hospitaller purchased the site from Velos , a French nobleman , in 1168 . Standing above the Jordan River Valley , the plateau commanded the route from Gilead into the Kingdom of Jerusalem and a nearby river crossing . To the north is the Sea of Galilee and west are hills . The site of Belvoir Castle dominated the surrounding area , and in the words of Abu Shama the castle is ; " set admidst the stars like an eagle ' s nest and abode of the moon " . As soon as the Knights Hospitaller purchased the land they began construction of Belvoir Castle . While Gilbert of Assailly was Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller the order gained around thirteen new castles , among which Belvoir was the most important . The fortress of Belvoir served as a major obstacle to the Muslim goal of invading the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem from the east . It withstood an attack by Muslim forces in 1180 . During the campaign of 1182 , the Battle of Belvoir Castle was fought nearby between King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Saladin . Following Saladin ' s victory over the Crusaders at the battle of the Horns of Hittin , Belvoir was besieged . The siege lasted a year and a half , until the defenders surrendered on 5 January 1189 . The fortifications of Belvoir were dismantled in 1217 – 18 by the Muslim rulers who feared the reconquest of the fortress by the Crusaders . In 1240 Belvoir was ceded to the Crusaders by agreement . However , lack of funds did not permit restoration of the fortifications and the fortress returned to Muslim control . The Hebrew name , Kohav Hayarden , meaning " Star of the Jordan " , preserves the name of Kohav – a Jewish village which existed nearby during the Roman and Byzantine periods . Architecture . After the end of the Second World War , the study of Crusader castles experienced a lull . Syria , for instance , declared independence in 1946 and had little money to spare for archaeology . In Israel , the study of Crusader castles developed under Joshua Prawer . Its most significant discovery was made at Belvoir . Between 1963 and 1968 the Israel Department of Antiquities carried out excavations at the castle . Before the investigations , it had been assumed that Belvoir was a simple castle , with just a single enclosure . Excavations in the 1960s demonstrated the complex nature of early military architecture in the Kingdom of Jerusalem . Belvoir ' s design bore similarities to that of a Roman castra : the inner enclosure was rectangular with towers at the corners , and large gatehouse in the middle of one wall , in this case the west . Belvoir is an early example of the concentric castle plan , which was widely used in later crusader castles . The castle was highly symmetric , with a rectangular outer wall , reinforced with square towers at the corners and on each side , surrounding a square inner enclosure with four corner towers and one on the west wall . According to historian H . J . A . Sire , the principle of concentric design used at Belvoir " was to influence castle design for the next several centuries . " Vaults on the inner side of both walls provided storage and protection during bombardments . The castle was surrounded by a moat wide and deep .