The Citadel of Salah Ed-Din (once known as Saone, also known as Saladdin Castle) is a castle in Syria. It is located c. 30 km east of Latakia, in high mountainous terrain, on a ridge between two deep ravines and surrounded by forest.
The castle was built in ancient times, possibly during the Phoenician period (early first millennium BC). The Phoenicians are said to have surrendered it to Alexander the Great about 334 BC. Not much is known about what happened to it between this period and the return of the Byzantines in the 10th century AD. Emperor John I Tzimisces gained control of the place from the Aleppan Hamdanid dynasty, and built the first of its defensive structures. It then fell in the hands of the Crusaders at around the beginning of the 12th century. It is mentioned that in 1119 it was owned by Robert of Saone who was given control of it by Roger, Prince of Antioch. Most of what is evident today was built at this time. The Crusader walls were breached by the armies of Muslim leader Salah ed-Din in July 1188, and it is from this victory that the castle takes its present name.
The castle remained stayed in Muslim hands until the times of Egyptian sultans Baybars and Qalawun.