Crusader Castle Merle (Tantura, الطنطوره)

In the 12th century, Merle Castle was built on the remains of the ancient city of Dor to secure the coastal road between Haifa and Caesarea Maritima. The Baron of Caesarea had the fortress constructed and the natural harbor there reactivated. It was named after the de Merle family, who received it as a fief. Later, the Merles were vassals of the Ibelins in Jaffa. For its construction, older settlement layers were removed, and a five-meter-deep moat was dug, which may have been filled with seawater. Building materials came from the ruins of Hellenistic and Roman Dor. By 1187, the castle was in the possession of the Knights Templar but was conquered by Sultan Saladin after the Battle of Hattin. The Templars recaptured it shortly thereafter, at the latest during the Third Crusade. In the autumn of 1191, Richard the Lionheart rested here with the Crusader army while awaiting his fleet. Although Château Pèlerin was not abandoned until 1291, it is presumed that Merle was destroyed some years earlier. Later, an Ottoman watchtower stood on this site. Emperor Wilhelm II visited the ruins in 1898.

Merle Castle is located in Nahsholim, in the Haifa district, in the Haifa region, Israel, at an elevation of approximately 3 m above sea level.

The ruins of the Crusader Castle Merle are currently accessible to visitors and can be explored.

• Ancient City of Dor (Ancient Structures), approx. 0.1 km away
• Crusader Castle Cafarlet (Fortress), approx. 2.9 km away
• Crusader Castle Château Pèlerin (Fortress), approx. 10.0 km away
• Crusader Castle Le Destroit (Fortress), approx. 10.5 km away