Syrians spruce up famed Crusader castle after years of war

Before civil war broke out in 2011, the famed Crusader castle of Krak des Chevaliers was one of Syria's main tourist attractions but the long years of fighting, during which it was again a battlefield, have kept the visitors away. HOMS, Syria: Clutching a small saw, Syrian volunteer Rana Jreij cut away at bushes growing up the centuries-old walls of one of the world's most famous Crusader castles, Krak des Chevaliers.

Many centuries later, after civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, the fortress again became a battleground, this time between government forces and rebels. "I'm happy to see life come back to the castle with hundreds of volunteers turning up, but my dream is to see cultural and touristic events return.In early 2018, the Syrian government attended a tourism trade fair in Madrid, seeking to bring back foreign visitors to the war-ravaged nation.

"The Hungarian excavation team came at the end of 2016 and helped us to restore the church's steeple and part of the castle's interior," he said. The fires destroyed more than 9,000 ha of farmland and forest in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, as well as Homs inland, the United Nations said.

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