15 Fortress Yechiam
A few months ago I was scheduled to enjoy a weekend in the Galil. For obvious reason (the War) that plan did not materialize. However, lately I managed to take that vacation. I went to a moshav near Nahariya. On one of my vacation days I traveled to Fortress Yechiam. I am interested in the history of the Middle Ages, especially in its architecture, for example the great cathedrals in
Yechiam is one of them. Although the fortress the crusaders built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is almost completely destroyed and what remains today is a reconstruction from the eighteenth century. None the less there is an impressive tower from Crusader times. Its stone stairs wind between thick walls and shooting slots. The scene from the top of the tower is simply breathtaking.
I took this photograph near the entrance of the tower. I stood with my back to the tower and photographed while facing west. Notice the beautiful arc, the shaded interior stone wall, the hinted rear curve, and of course the tree growing inside the building. The reconstruction was done accurately and artistically. Consequently the building does not look like a shattered ruin or like a polished toy. The tree growing within the structure provides color, shade and a calm atmosphere that softens the stony grimness and enables us to forget that the building is a military installation.
On my way to fortress Yechiam I went to see the statue dedicated to the memory of Haganah fighters who died in the Yechiam convoy before independence. Ninety Haganah members traveled to embattled Yechiam. Their convoy was ambushed and more than half of the fighters were killed. The death toll on that day was forty seven. At that time the population of the Jewish community was about one tenth of what it is today. Those facts help us to consider realistically the meaning of existentialist war – its geography and its price.
