Fodor's Expert Review Nimrod's Fortress National Park

The dramatic views of this towering, burly 13th-century fortress, appearing and disappearing behind each curve of the narrow road that leads to it, are part of the treat of a visit to Nimrod's Fortress (Kal'at Namrud), the largest surviving Middle Ages fortress in Israel. Once you're there, the fortress commands superb vistas of the Golan and the Upper Galilee, especially through the frames of its arched windows and the narrow archers' slits in its walls. Nimrod's Fortress is a highlight for kids, with a ladder down to a vaulted cistern, a shadowy spiral staircase, and unexpected nooks and crannies. A path leads up to the fortress's central tower, or keep, where the feudal lord would have lived.

In 1218, the Mamluk warlord al-Malik al-Aziz Othman built this fortress to guard the vital route against a possible Crusader reconquest after their 1187 defeat. It changed hands between Muslims and Christians in the succeeding centuries, as both vied for control of the region.