Last week government troops in Syria’s bloody civil war retook the famed crusader castle Crak des Chevalier (pictured above) from rebel soliders. The castle has been the site of consistent fighting over the last few years, and is just one ancient fortification that has played a tactical role in the conflict. Last year the Washington Post reported that the citadel in the Syrian city of Aleppo, once a major tourist attraction as a UNESCO world heritage site, has turned into a shooting blind for regime snipers, who fire through the arrow slits in its walls.

It’s surprising, of course, that stone castles built centuries ago to withstand battering rams remain tactically useful against modern weapons. At Ideas, we were curious to know whether there are other examples of ancient buildings being used for defensive purposes in modern wars and queried three experts in military history: Paul Dover at Kennesaw State University, Clifford Rogers at the United States Military Academy, and Geoffrey Parker at Ohio State University. By email, they explained that there is indeed precedent for what’s happening in Syria, and offered these four 20th century examples:

German troops used the Chateau de Coucy, built in the 13th century in northern France, as a military outpost, before destroying it just prior to their retreat in 1917.



The Alcazar (castle) of Toledo, Spain, was built in the third century by the Romans and restored in the 1540s. It was held successfully by Nationalist soldiers during a two-month siege at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936.



The abbey in Monte Cassino, Italy, was built in the 14th century and reduced to rubble by Allied bombers in 1944. That rubble provided cover for German soldiers in the ensuing Battle of Monte Cassino.



Malbork Castle in Poland was completed in 1406 and destroyed at the end of World War II in last-ditch, heavy fighting between the Germans and the Russians.



Images via Wikimedia Commons.