Later the city came under Muslim rule, who also tried to settle, although progress in this was relative. It was not until the arrival of the Crusaders in the Holy Land. The Crusaders captured Ashkelon in the 12 century. Many times, the city passed from hand to hand. In 1153 the Crusaders built their fortress here, which is often passed from hand to hand in the war against the Saracens. In 1187 the city was taken by Saladin, in 1190 – Richard the Lionheart, but not for long.

In 1240 the fortress rebuilt by Richard Cornell. The Crusaders built a ten-mound, built around the city walls from the sea and by land. The towers on the walls got names, reminiscent of those who built them. Bloody Tower was built under sentence of death, Women-handed women, Bedouin-captured by the Bedouins, etc., a total of 54 towers. The wall had four gates: in the south – the gates of Gaza, on the north – Jaffa – in the East Jerusalem and the West – Ocean. But in the 13 century, the leader of the Mamluks – Merc Egyptian sultans of the slaves of the Turkic and Arab origin – Baybars destroyed all the building, devastated the city, and a period of neglect. About the city has gone bad rumor, supposedly in his caves are found witches. New life in the city began in 1948 when the coast was built a few settlements. Which in 1955 merged and acquired the status of the city called Ashkelon.