In 1116, during the aftermath of the First Crusade, a Frankish army constructed a fortress over the Byzantine site in order to block access to heavily fortified Tyre, which was the last city in the region held by Islamic rulers.
It was eventually taken over by the Christian warriors in 1124, after a siege of almost six months had led to the negotiatied surrender of Tyre by the Seljuk military leader Toghtekin.
The fortress of Chamaa, which was thus part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, also became known as Scandelion Castle, named after the neighbouring coastal area of Iskandarounah which in turn was named after Alexander the Great.

It is unclear whether Chamaa Castle was - like many of Tyre's buildings - damaged in the 1202 Syria earthquake and whether it remained under the control of the Lordship of Tyre, when John of Montfort entered a treaty in 1270 with Mamluk Sultan Baibars and transferred souvereignity over some villages in the coastal plain to him.
It is likewise unclear what happened to Chamaa Castle after the Crusaders surrendered Tyre in 1291 to the Mamluk Sultanate's army of Al-Ashraf Khalil, who had all fortifications of the city demolished to prevent the Franks from re-entrenching.
Like Tyre, Chamaa was subsequently governed from Acre and thus became part of Palestine, but also "sank into obsurity."
In 1116, during the aftermath of the First Crusade, a Frankish army constructed a fortress over the Byzantine site in order to block access to heavily fortified Tyre, which was the last city in the region held by Islamic rulers. It was eventually taken over by the Christian warriors in 1124, after a siege of almost six months had led to the negotiatied surrender of Tyre by the Seljuk military leader Toghtekin. The fortress of Chamaa, which was thus part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, also became known as Scandelion Castle, named after the neighbouring coastal area of Iskandarounah which in turn was named after Alexander the Great.
It is unclear whether Chamaa Castle was - like many of Tyre's buildings - damaged in the 1202 Syria earthquake and whether it remained under the control of the Lordship of Tyre, when John of Montfort entered a treaty in 1270 with Mamluk Sultan Baibars and transferred souvereignity over some villages in the coastal plain to him. It is likewise unclear what happened to Chamaa Castle after the Crusaders surrendered Tyre in 1291 to the Mamluk Sultanate's army of Al-Ashraf Khalil, who had all fortifications of the city demolished to prevent the Franks from re-entrenching. Like Tyre, Chamaa was subsequently governed from Acre and thus became part of Palestine, but also "sank into obsurity."
Chamaa