Château Pèlerin , also known by its medieval French name as Chastel Pelerin and by its Latin name as Castrum Perigrinorum and also known as Atlit fortress and Castle Pilgrim , is a Crusader fortress located near Atlit on the northern coast of Israel , about south of Haifa . The Knights Templar began building the fortress in 1218 during the Fifth Crusade . One of the major Crusader fortresses , it could support up to 4,000 troops in siege conditions . It was abandoned by its garrison and taken over by the Mamluks in August 1291 , shortly after the Fall of Acre . It remained intact for several hundred years , until suffering damage in the Galilee earthquake of 1837 . In modern times , the castle is part of a training zone for Israeli Naval commandos . It has been described as the " crowning example of Crusader military architecture " , although T. E. Lawrence found it lacking in elegance and imagination in terms of military architecture , setting on massiveness instead
Galilee earthquake of 1837
Galilee earthquake of 1837
Château Pèlerin