Perched on the highest hill overlooking Palmrya and the oasis is the castle of Fakhr ud-Din ibn Ma'ani. The castle was probably built in the 13th century by the mamelukes. Although by then the city was long since dead, this was a key strategic position an the trading routes and guarded a reliable water supply, making it well worth defending. The castle takes its name from a Druze emir who 'liberated' much of Lebanon and Syria from Ottoman rule in the first half of the 17th century.