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During the crusader period (1095–1291 CE) several European style castles were built in the land of Israel. These are located in geographically strategic locations. The Belvoir Castle, for example, was built by the Knights Hospitaller (a medieval Catholic military order) in northern Israel on a bluff overlooking the Jordan River valley, in eastern, lower Galilee. The castle guarded one of the roads leading to the Crusader “Kingdom of Jerusalem” to the south. The architecture of such castles is striking in the Middle East, because they include European style moats, useful where water was abundant, but an oddity in arid regions. The Belvoir Castle was built with two protective walls in concentric squares. After Saladin’s remarkable victory at the Horns of Hattin (1187 CE), the castle was besieged and fell to Arab rulers.