During the last few decades, extensive archaeological excavations have been carried out at the site, revealing remains and ancient findings from all periods of the citadel's existence.

In excavations conducted in the area of Giv'at HaMitzuda, evidence of the existence of a Canaanite settlement from the Bronze Age was discovered.

Additionally, remnants from the Iron Age, contemporaneous with the Israelites' settlement in the land according to biblical narrative, were found after they entered the region.

Yosef chose to build the fortress on the mountain adjacent to Safed, a peak that rises 834 meters above sea level, overlooking its surroundings with abundant slopes.

[3] Prior to the Crusader period, the tower was known as Burj Yatim, and described by thirteenth-century Muslim historian Ibn Shaddad as standing above a "flourishing village.

In 1168 King Amalric I purchased the castle, reinforced its defenses, and instructed the transfer of the stronghold to the care of the Knights Templar, who held it for two decades.

Al-Mu'azzam Isa, emir of Damascus, ordered the castle to be destroyed during the 1218-1219 siege of Damietta to prevent it from falling into crusader hands.

Historian Abu al-Fida reports in his book Compendium of Human History or Chronicles that there were eighty knights, servants, and fifteen commanders stationed in the citadel.

[4] Historian Shams al-Din al-Uthmani wrote in 1372: "The fortress of Safed was among the most robust of the Frankish fortifications and was the one most closely tied to the Muslims.

The Templars resided in it, knights like real eagles, ready to launch raids on cities from Damascus to Daria," (likely Deiraya in the southern Hebron hills) "and its surroundings, and from Jerusalem to Karak," (east of the Jordan) "and its region.

The conquerors, who turned Safed into the capital of the Galilee district, feared the remaining Crusaders in Acre and also the Mongols who, at that time, had seized substantial parts of Asia.

[3] The Arab geographer al-Dimashqi, who wrote his book "Selected Times and Wonders on Land and Sea" in the year 1300, and also described the Mamluk fortress.