Hospitalier Fortress

The Hospitalier Fortress was a stronghold of the Crusader Knights Hospitalier, found in Acre during the Third Crusade. The structure functioned as both a hospital and military quarters and was located in the northern section of the city's Poor District.

In 1191, the fortress was the site of experiments on patients overseen and conducted by the Hospitalier Grand Master Garnier de Naplouse, who was secretly a member of the Templar Order. In July of that year, the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad infiltrated the fortress, where he witnessed Garnier's guards subduing an escaped patient before assassinating the Grand Master within his personal workspace.

Layout

Outside the fortress, a Catholic stone cross marked the entrance, overlooking some stairs. Just through the main fortress gates was a courtyard made of stone, with a well at its center.

The inner fortress and hospital were accessible from any of the three remaining walls of the courtyard. The interior was filled with many closely-watched hospital beds, as well as a few wandering, partially unstable patients and the guards. Some of the beds and operating tables were occupied by corpses. Despite its appearance as a hospital, those held within were not actually sick or wounded prior to their arrival. Most had instead been forcibly brought there from Jerusalem to avoid arousing suspicion, and were subjected to Garnier's experiments.

Garnier's personal workspace within the fortress was restricted, with only scholars permitted entry alongside the Grand Master himself. The fortress' roof was patrolled by archers, while the rafters within its interior, hung with candelabras, could be used to navigate the building unseen.

Trivia

• Ironically, there is a herald located west of the fortress who speaks of "overcoming tests", given that experiments and torture are conducted down the street.
• In the Poor District, it is possible to overhear rumors of what goes on inside the building.
• A viewpoint is located atop the fortress' tower.

Gallery

• 
  Concept art of the fortress' halls
• 
  A view of the fortress and a Hospitalier flag
• 
  The outer walls of the fortress
• 
  The inner hospital
• 
  The inner courtyard of the fortress
• 
  The fortress' tower

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade