Description Arima is southeast of
Tartus. It is situated on an oval hilltop, above sea level, in the northern
Akkar Plain, below the
Jabal Ansariyah mountains. The hill slopes steeply on its north and south to the tributaries of Nahr al-Abrash. The fortress is currently in a ruined state. From its peak it oversees the fortresses of
Chastel Blanc and
Gibelacar (Hisn Akkar). It covers a length of . It consists of two courtyards and redoubt, all three components separated from each other ditches. The redoubt is an enclosure with two towers on its sides, the larger tower positioned over the entrance to the fortress. Nur al-Din later raided and destroyed Arima and
Chastel Blanc in
Safita in 1171. The fortress was rebuilt soon after and entered the possession of the
Knights Templar. The Muslim ruler of Syria and Egypt,
Saladin, captured it in 1187 but it eventually reverted to Crusader control until falling to the Muslim
Mamluk Sultanate in 1291. ==References==