3.1. Climate in Arwad Island and Outdoor weather during the period of measurement:
The general climate of Arwad island is Mediterranean moderate climate all year round, latitude 34.53North and longitude 35.53East, which is characterized by the four seasons, humid environment, rainy winter weather and the prevailing wind is south and southwestern (Amer and Abou Hamed 2011). The average value of the diurnal highest temperature in Tartous is in summer in August with about 30◦C, and the mean value of the minimum temperature is in winter in January with about 7◦C, and the average of humidity between 60-75% (Meteorological center of Tartous 2015).. Heat and humidity are the main issues that need to be …show more content…
Actually, it is unclear if these fortifications were built in Crusader period or Islamic period, but the features belong to the construction style of both of them can be seen in the tower and the citadel, the cross vault construction and the crusader inscription of Lusignan Family in the medieval period are on the right and left of the main gate of the tower and the citadel, as well the vaults and domes of the Ayyubid and Mamluk architecture style Fig.5. The investigation was carried out in these two buildings because of these criteria: These two buildings are the most significant archaeological buildings on the island that still in use until now, they were defensive buildings in the period of construction, then they reused through the following successive historical periods and down to be used as a museum today. Both of them are available and easily accessible to them more than residence buildings, because of the privacy of the …show more content…
The eastern facade is completely closed, while the western facade has the lonely main gate with a place above it to put the flag or torch in it. The gate leads to the entrance of the tower that has a vaulted ceiling and contains two doors, one from the right side leads to a small room, and the other is directly opposite the main gate leading to an open yard surrounded by fifteen halls including the entrance hall on the ground floor. The ceilings of the rooms are built in a vault way, and the rooms contain fireplaces for heating that are built within the walls, just one room contains a well to collect water from the roof with an open hole in the roof above, it used when needed by the residents of the tower. All rooms on the ground floor closed to the outside and opened to the inside, except two rooms of the corners of the tower from the west side. The first floor is accessed from a narrow stone stairway in the entrance, it composed of five halls on the west side of the tower, the main hall of them in the middle open to outside as Iwan with a cross vault roof above the entrance, and leads to two rooms with dome-shaped ceiling on each side that was characterized the architecture during the Ayyubid period. The