Homs (Syria) (AFP)

Armed with a saw, Rana Jreij clears the brush between the centuries-old stones of one of the most famous castles of the Crusades.

Objective: to perk up the Krak des Chevaliers, a Unesco heritage site, and protect it from the fires that recently raged in Syria at war.

Like her, dozens of volunteers, equipped with rakes, pickaxes, shovels and brooms, mobilized to clear the site of the castle, erected in the 12th century in the central region of Homs.

“This citadel is our memories, our memory and I'm afraid for it,” says Ms. Jreij, 32, her hair pulled back.

While the forest fires that ravaged central and northwestern Syria in mid-October were brought under control, they had time to destroy more than 9,000 hectares of farmland, olive groves and forests, according to the United Nations.

With the very last summer heat, the risk of a recovery is never completely ruled out.

So in the narrow dark corridors of the citadel, its interior courtyards or directly on the side of its thick walls, volunteers cleared dead branches and thick vegetation.

In total, more than 400 students took part in the workcamp, explains Naji Darwiche, director of a civic responsibility program at a local university.

- "Isolation" -

Built by the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, a Catholic military order, the imposing medieval fortress that could accommodate a garrison of 2,000 men stands on a high hill, dominating its surroundings.

In a Syria at war since 2011, rebels and government forces fought for this strategic position, which was finally recaptured in 2014 by the authorities after fierce battles.

"The castle closed its doors in 2012," says site manager Naïma Mouharatam, who oversees brush clearing operations after managing restoration work.

The fighting had caused damage in particular to the church and the Great Hall, famous for its small columns and vaults inspired by Gothic architecture.

The restoration had advanced well but it was interrupted by the restrictions linked to the new coronavirus, which also caused a drop in the number of visitors to the site, which reopened only at the end of 2018.

"In 2019 we had 23,000 visitors, this year they were only 5,000", she laments.

"The coronavirus has restored the isolation of the citadel," she said.

Happy to see "life come back" thanks to the volunteers who took over the place, she dreams of the return of the good times of great cultural events.

"I hope the day will come when I will attend concerts in the citadel, like before the war," she sighs.

- "Coming from all over the world" -

In 2013, while the fighting was raging, the Krak des Chevaliers, but also the ruins of Palmyra or the old town of Aleppo were inscribed by Unesco on its list of endangered heritage.

At the entrance to the Great Hall, Hazem Hanna cannot recover from the damage suffered by the Gothic vaults, which have partly collapsed.

But "as long as the basic materials are available, we can restore them", tempers this engineer in charge of work in the building.

The citadel had benefited in 2016 from the help of Hungarian archaeologists to restore in particular the bell tower of the church.

In a Syria that can boast of having six sites listed as World Heritage of Humanity, the government participated in 2018 in the international tourism fair in Madrid to revive the sector.

Because in recent years, the authorities have consolidated their hold over more than 70% of the fragmented country and the fighting has generally declined in intensity.

But if visitors from Lebanon, Iraq or neighboring Jordan easily make the trip, sometimes for day trips, Western tourists have deserted the country.

Mr. Darwiche, who accompanies his students during their volunteering sessions, dreams of seeing "tourists coming from all over the world" because "the citadel is eager to meet its visitors".

© 2020 AFP