Unlike Krak and Margat, this castle was never in the hands of the military and religious orders defending the Holy Land. The Byzantines built it after their re-conquest of Syria in the 10C and it then passed to the mysterious “master of Sahyoun” by the start of the Crusades in 1108. Robert of Saône and his son William erected the current structure, which remained in their family until being taken by Saladin in 1188. Covering some 5ha (twice the size of Krak), it is the largest surviving Crusader castle.