'Pilgrim Castle'), also known as Atlit and Magdiel,[1] is a Crusader fortress and fortified town located about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the modern Israeli town of Atlit on the northern coast of Israel, about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) south of Haifa.

It became for a short time the headquarters of the Crusaders; according to Claude Reignier Conder its architecture "must have made ‘Athlit perhaps the finest town of the period in the country".

[4] The fortress remained intact for several hundred years, until suffering damage in the Galilee earthquake of 1837.

During early Ottoman rule, in the 16th century, it was recorded in tax registers as a port of call and a farm.

[5] Construction began in early spring 1218 during the period of the Fifth Crusade by the Knights Templar, replacing the earlier castle of Le Destroit which was situated slightly back from the coast.

[6][7] The castle was under the control of the Knights Templar and was never taken in siege due to its excellent location and design and its ability to be resupplied by sea.

[9] The iskele (port of call or wharf) of Atlit, along with those of nearby Tantura and Tirat Lawza generated annual revenues of 5,000 akces in 1538, during Ottoman rule (1517–1917).

[12] During the rule of Acre governor Sulayman Pasha al-Adil (1805–1819), Atlit was the headquarters of local strongman Mas'ud al-Madi, who was appointed the mutasallim (tax collector/enforcer) of the Atlit coast, which consisted of the territory that stretched from Umm Khalid to Haifa.

[16][17] In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted the existence of an hamlet covering a good portion of the ancient site.