Today we really only know about a few of the most famous of Templar historic locations. At their height of wealth and power the Templar Knights held between 9,000 to 11,000 properties across all of Europe and the Holy Lands including some islands such as Cyprus in the Mediterranean.
Knights Templar Holdings in Christendom
Most of us may know about the top 10-20 places but even that might be aggressive. But there has been little research done to assist those interested in the locations of many linked Templar sites around the world.
Let’s start out our investigation by looking at specific Regions:
Outremer or the Holy Land (the Levant)
Knights Templar Holdings Outremer (Holy Land) the Levant
Jerusalem- Of course the
Templar Quarters under Solomon’s Temple Jerusalem
knights first temporary headquarters was on the Temple Mount the original site of King Solomon’s Temple. This is where they took of residence in the former Temple Stables and legend says they began their excavations under the Temple almost immediately.
Acre- AKKO in Arabic- was the final stronghold of the Templars in the Levant/Outremer. Their famous fortress was where they made their last stand against the Saracens before they finally retreated to their fortress on Cyprus to regroup.
The Last Remains of the Templar Towers and Castle at Acre, Israel
Atlit (also known as Pilgrims Castle)- Chateau Pelerin- lost in 1291 to the Mamluks just after the fall of ACRE. This was the Knights Templar’s strongest fortress and it could host 4,000 knights in siege conditions. It has a secure water source and deep excavations and a vast tunnel system. The castle remains still stand today near the Port City of Haifa, Israel.
Atlit Castle- also called Pilgrims Castle- Haifa Israel
Chastel Blanc- Was a fortified keep that had a chapel, garrison and office quarters for the knights in the hills of
Chastel Blanc Keep 1905
Syria. From the Keep the knights could see the Templar coastal fortresses of Tartus, the Mediterranean Sea, mounts of Lebanon, the Krak des chevalier fortress inland and Akkar to the south. The keep had a large warning bell tower that could sound the alarm to other Templar warning posts of any invasion or approaching hostiles due to it’s commanding views in all directions.
Ruad Island- This sole island fortress in Syria gave the Knights a bridgehead and staging area to raid into Syria and especially Tortosa now called Tartus on the shore… this was the last piece of land held by the Templars in the holy land. The knights
Arwad Castle on Ruad Island off of Tartus Syria Coast
maintained a garrison of 120, knights, 400 bowmen and several hundred infantry men on the island up until 1302. The Muslims laid siege to the island an negotiated a surrender where safe passage was guaranteed for the surrender, but the Muslim’s dishonorably broke that negotiated cease fire by executing all the infantry and bowmen and sending the remaining Knights Templar to Cairo to be imprisoned.
Mediterranean region:
Turkey:
Old Rhodes Harbor Castle
The Templars took part in the raid and conquest of Constantinople. Many believe to remove key artifacts and safe guard them from the eventual Muslim onslaught… more likely for their own use and knowledge. The Templars controlled two major castles in the Southern tip of Turkey on the approach to Antioch and Aleppo. These were Bagras Castle and Trapessac Castles. Known as the
Grand Master Knights Templar Courtyard Rhodes
Gatehouse to the Knights Castle
Gates to Syria. After the loss of land by the Knights Templar in the Levant (Holy Land) also known as Outremer the Knights first moved their major forces to Cyprus, but later along with other orders moved a huge contingent of knights to Rhodes in an attempt to keep their staging forces near the Holy Land. Eventually the Knight of St. John (Hospitallers) moved their HQ to Malta and kept a major presence on Rhodes as well. The Templars who were very aggressive castle builders fortified Rhodes and Cyprus in their belief that they would soon be reinvading the Holy Land a dream that Jacques de Molay refused to give up on up until his death. Many of the Templar’s Governing Council had advised Jacques de Molay to establish permanent island bases rather than raise concerns over the return of the Templar forces to Christendom, where the monarchs would see their veteran knights as potential foes or even worse a possible invader trying to carve out their own kingdom from within the monarchs own territory. The Hospitallers did indeed make their fortifications on islands such as Rhodes and
Guarding the Harbor the Castle of the Knights Templar
Malta, but the Templars remained committed to negotiating for an invasion of the Holy Land and moved many of their troops back to France. This of course only exasperated their relationship with King Phillip IV and led to the eventual coup within the Vatican that ended with the Templars disbandment by the Church. The fortifications on Rhodes such as Lindos Castle show the prowess of the Templar Castle schemes and their desire to protect their harbors for commerce and transportation of their knights and logistics similar to their fortifications at La Rochelle France.
Approaching the Grand Masters Castle Rhodes
Trapessac Castle near Kirikhan/Hatay province Turkey
Cyprus-
Kolossi Castle Cyprus near Limasol
Kolossi Castle another heavily fortified Keep with castle curtain walls around it just 9 miles from the Limasol Cyprus. This served as the operational headquarters for the Knights Templar in the region of the holy land after they were pushed out of the holy land by the muslims. Jacques de Molay kept his residence here much of the time as he envisioned building support to reinvade the holy land and retake the Holy City and Christian heritage.
Croatia:
Vrana Croatia- Along the Dalmatian coast the Knights Templar and the Benedictine Monks had established a fortified castle high above the village and the Benedictine Monks Chapel in the town to project power into the region. The Knights Hospitallers were given this property after the betrayal of the Knights Templar by the Catholic Church in 1312.
Vranna Castle Croatia
Italy: Rome the site known as “the hole of Rome” was originally a Knights Templar fortified castle and monastery until 1312 when it was forcibly given to the Knights Hospitaller and then later the Knights of Malta.
The Fortified Village of Castignano is part of the route to Jerusalem by the Crusaders. The Templars built a commandery here and legend has it they buried part of their treasure somewhere nearby this village or within the old fortified keep and village. The villagers still have a festival of the Templars every year.
The Castello della Magione (also Magione di San Giovanni al Ponte or Spedale di San Giovanni in Gerusalemme alla Magione) is a medieval castle in Poggibonsi (province of Siena, central Italy). It is an example of a medieval “Mansio” (residence) that belonged to the Knights Templar. The castle includes the ancient church and the “spedale” (hotel) for the pilgrims in transit to Rome on the Via Francigena. The complex is near the ancient crossing of the Via Francigena over the Staggia River, near the Bonizio bridge, now destroyed.
Switzerland:
The current Knights Templar Headquarters are in Geneva. This country befits and holds similar many of the most common and closely guarded values of the original Knights Templar. The oldest abbey established in Switzerland is Sion, in the Valais Canton. There is a twin peaks overlooking the town, meaning new Jerusalem or holy place in the Alps. The twin mountains house the cathedral of Sion and the Castle Tourbillion. These date back to the beginning times of Swiss Confederation formation around 1291. A time when the Templars were known to be looking to establish a European mainland stronghold outside of the Holy Land as they were being pushed out of the Levant by the Muslims and the Christians had lost their stomach to fight on any longer.
These are suggestions that certain historians and conspiracists alike deem to be true that suggest that the Knights Templar did in fact form Switzerland. The evidence and likelihood seem pretty plausible to me. The county of Valais in the city of Sion has a particular Templar tie in the founding history.
Here in Sion, the Valais Canton of Switzerland there are two massive castles on two twin peaks. Tourbillion and Valere Castles each tower high above the old city. Rumors have always floated that this is where the Templars originally set up shop after their flight from France.
Twin Castle Valere and Tourbillion in Sion Switzerland
Castle Chateau Valere Sion Switzerland
— In the history of the first Swiss Cantons there are tales of white coated knights mysteriously appearing and helping the locals to gain their independence against foreign domination.
— The founding of the early Switzerland pinpoints exactly to the period when the Templars were being persecuted in France by King Philip IV of France.
— Switzerland is directly to the east of France and would have been particularly easy for fleeing Templar brothers from the whole region of France to get to.
–The Templars were one of the earliest known banking systems in early day Europe. King Phillip in fact was deeply in debt to the Templars.
–Not only were The Templars were big into banking, but also farming, engineering, and clock making (of an early type). These same aspects can be seen as importance to the commencement and gradual forming of the separate states that would eventually be Switzerland.
— The Swiss don’t really know the ins and outs of their earliest history (or suggest that they don’t.)
— They are famous for being secretive and independent as were the Templars.
–The famous Templar Cross is incorporated into the flags of many of the Swiss Cantons. As are other emblems, such as keys and lambs, that were particularly important to the Knights Templar.
–The Swiss were and are famous for their religious tolerance – and so were the Templars.
Hungary:
The Order of the Knights Templar appeared here, in Hungary in the second half of the XII century. The supposition, that knights settled down in our country in 1147, when the crusaders of Louis VII, French king passed through Hungary , is unproved. The first house of the Templars, which could be proved with sources, was the monastic quarters of Vrána near the coast of the Adriatic . Namely, the Benedictine monastery of Saint Gregory in Vrána belonged to the Templars already in 1169. After that, in the last decades of the XII century, the Templars appeared in Hungary again and again. They got further landed properties, monastic quarters, for example the city of Zengg , with the church of Saint George (between 1172–1185), Boisce (1186), and the list does not end here. From the beginning of the XIII century, the Order started to spread, relatively, rapidly in the Kingdom, which, above all thanks to the donations of our kings – Emery and Andrew II –, who supported the ideal of crusaders. (Both of them declared under oath that they led the crusade, and Andrew kept his promise, he participated in the Fifth Crusade in 1217.)
Typical Templar fortified Commandry tower/Keep
According to the sources, known at present, until the abolition of the order in the XIV century, the Order of Knights Templar owned fourteen monastic quarters (Boisce, Béla, Dubica, Esztergom, Gecske, Glogonca, Gora, Keresztény, Nekcse, Okriszentlo1rinc, Szentmárton, Vrána, Zablata, Zengg) and almost 50 other landed properties (area, temple, castle, city, house, fish pond, etc.) in the Hungarian Kingdom in the Middle Ages. This number is absolute value, of course, so it shows that the Order had gathered this fortune altogether during the one and half century, which they spent in Hungary . In comparison with other areas in Western Europe , this is very little. At the time of the dissolution, for example, the Order had 40-40 monastic quarters in England and in a province of France , Provance, whereas, in Aragon and Catalonia , it had 32 altogether. According to our data, the number of monastic quarters in Hungary is almost one-third of the quarters of the Order in western Europe..
It is evident from the list that the quarters and holdings of the Order in Hungary were, above all, in the southern provinces of the country – in the areas, which were called at that time Slavonia and Croatia .
- Vranna Castle Croatia Coast
Poland:
The Templars were given the area now known as Chwarzczany and built a fortified chapel there near the border of Poland and Eastern Germany. The knights maintained a small garrison to control the agricultural region and the ten villages associated with this commandery.
Czech Republic:
Prague- Celetna Lane- the Royal Way… The house At the Temple (No.27) stands at the place, where used to be a church of Knights Templar in the 13 th century. The street, that goes through the house, is therefore called “Templova”. After the Order of Knights Templar was abolished in 1312, the members used to meet secretly in the basement of the house. A stone altar of the order was discover there later. A hospital with a church was built there instead and the building finally became a dwelling house in 1784.
Just 3 hours southeast of Prague lies the Templar Winery of Templarske sklepy (Templar Wine Cellars) which is associated with the arrival of a mysterious clan of the Templar Knights which came to the region Cejkovice about 1230 AD. The first written evidence of the clan’s existence has been recorded in 1248. Along with building the Templar Knights’ mansion, huge wine cellars have been built in dimensions unmatched in our region in the 13th century. A new epoch of wine growing has begun in the region and its vicinity thanks to the Templar agricultural knowledge probably being brought by way of their French wine knowledge. The region has been ruled by many different Dynasties and Orders over the past centuries such as the Noblemen of Lipa, the Vickovci Dynasty, the Jesuits, and the Habsburgs.
Denmark:
Bornholm Castle and churches is Located 40 kilometers southeast of the southern tip of Sweden but territorially part of Denmark, the island of Bornholm is one of the oldest visible rocks in the world. Formed through volcanic activity more than 1700 million years ago, the small granite island has an area of approximately 600 square kilometers (230 square miles). Its rolling hills are covered with a patchwork of farms, pastures and beautiful forests, the coasts are graced by sandy beaches and rocky cliffs and its traditional villages are home to some of the friendliest people in Europe.
Templar Round Church Bornholm Island