The latrines at the Krak des Chevaliers were concentrated in the northern sector of the castle’s original core. On the ground floor, there was a row of twelve latrines in the northern section of the enceinte’s rear wall. At the end of the 12th century, a latrine tower was built in this sector with a dozen additional latrines for use by the occupants of the upper castle. Preceded by a vast hall, the latrines were emptied through a vertical conduit into three large machicolations with relieving arches. There is another row of four latrines on the right side of the tower, near the path leading to the postern. The entrance outside the tower may indicate that they were intended for people working in the lists. There were other toilet facilities built into the second enceinte.
Other fortresses built by the Order follow a similar pattern: at Marqab castle, where two rectangular projecting buildings housed a block of terraced latrines, and at Saint-Jean d'Acre, where a latrine tower, erected in the Hospitaller quarter, had a total of 35 seats.
Privacy was clearly less important than the desire to rationalise the residential and military areas of these great fortresses built by military orders and inhabited by warrior monks accustomed to communal life.
