Travelbeat Editorial Review Along The Crusader Trail From Europe to the Holy Land via Messina Story by Kerry Hennigan Over a period of approx 200 years during the Middle Ages, Christian Europeans responded to a plea initiated by Pope Urban II to make safe for pilgrims the city of Jerusalem and the Bible lands of the Middle East. While former Arab rulers had not forbidden Christians access to the region's New Testament locations, the recently conquering Seljuk Turks were a different matter entirely. Jerusalem was the centre of the world to followers of the three Abrahamic faiths (i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam). Previously they had been permitted to worship side by side at their respective sacred sites within the city walls. Unfortunately all those who responded to the Pope's plea for a pilgrimage under arms (now referred to as 'a crusade') were not necessarily good ambassadors of their faith, as Muslims, Jews and even fellow Christians discovered at the cost of their lives. In fact, the murder and mayhem they caused on their journey to Jerusalem, particularly on the First Crusade, and when capturing the city itself, has left a lasting and regrettable legacy till the present day. Nevertheless, there is a mystique about the Saracens and Crusaders, the battles they fought, the military clerical orders they spawned (e.g. the Knights Templar and the Hospitalers) that has long excited the imaginations of travellers and history lovers. The various groups of Crusaders took different routes to the Holy Land, but, most of them, particularly from that First Crusade, began their journey from France. The overland route took the armed pilgrims through Italy to Constantinople and from there across the Bosporus to Anatolia and on to the Levant. Later pilgrims that took the sea route to Palestine could use the Sicilian port of Messina for the last, momentous leg of their journey. It is from here that Orlando Bloom (pictured above) playing a younger, fictionalised version of the real Balian of Ibelin, sets sail after the death of his father (Liam Neesom) in director Ridley Scott's Crusader epic Kingdom of Heaven (2005). In the movie, medieval Messina is portrayed beautifully by the Moroccan port of Essaouira. Today, most tourists visiting Sicily give Messina scant time and attention, but there are some notable reminders of its medieval past as a Saracen stronghold and then a Crusader port. Among them is the Norman cathedral which was visited by King Richard I (the Lionheart) of England and his cohort and possible lover King Philip II of France in 1190 at the start of the Third Crusade. Curiously according to some sources, while Phillip acted like a gentleman, Richard took issue with the island's rulers and encouraged his men to sack Messina in a sort of dry run for the Third Crusade against the armies of the mightiest Saracen leader of all - Saladin! Sicily was experiencing a Golden Age at the time, and castles and churches from this period can be found all over the island, along with remnants of its pre-Norman conquest past, i.e. Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Saracen. In the Holy Lands themselves, Crusader and anti-Crusader castles still abound. As a university student, TE Lawrence (the future Lawrence of Arabia) made a thorough study of many of these castles, including the Hospitaler fortress of Krak des Chevaliers (top left) in modern Syria. Krak des Chevaliers remains an outstanding example of medieval military architecture and is the most intact of the Crusader-era castles in the Middle East. In Jordan, there are a number of castles open to visitors - including Shobak near Petra, and the castle of Kerak (centre left) stronghold of Reynard de Chatillon until his death at the hands of Saladin at the Battle of Hattin (1187). Today both Shobak and Kerak are on the well-trodden tourist routes that run from Amman, the national capital of Jordan, down to Petra and on to Akaba on the gulf coast. The same Kings Highway also provides access to dramatic Wadi Ram (bottom left) another location that recalls the World War I exploits of TE Lawrence and the united Arab forces of Prince Faisal. After the fall of the last outpost of the Frank's Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291, the Templars returned to Europe and build some impressive fortresses from which they wielded considerable power - a fact that would ultimately lead to their downfall. The Hospitalers relocated to Malta and are the ancestors of the modern St Johns Ambulance Corps. The following is a list of just a few of the companies who market tours that include visits to Crusader sites in the Middle East: · Temptation Tours www.temptationtours.com.au · Tempo Holidays www.tempoholidays.com · Peregrine www.peregrineadventures.com · Kumuka Worldwide www.kumuka.com · The Imaginative Traveller www.imaginative-traveller.com.au · Geckos Grassroots Adventures www.geckosadventures.com Sources: · A History of the Crusades Vols 1 - 3. Steven Runciman. Penguin. · The Crusades through Arab Eyes. Amin Maalouf. Saqi Essentials. · Warriors of God. Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade. James Reston, Jr. Faber and Faber. · Kingdom of Heaven DVD Directed by Ridley Scott. Twentieth Century Fox. · Kingdom of Heaven. The Ridley Scott Film and the History Behind the Story. Introduction by Ridley Scott. Pocket Books. · Blue Guide: Sicily 6th Edition. Ellen Grady. A&C Black. Photo acknowledgements: · Kingdom of Heaven © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation · Kerak Castle and Wadi Ram: Jordan Tourism Board · Krac des Chevaliers: Ministry of Tourism-Syria Back to Front Page