Thought you were done hearing about Desert Castles? Well, you were. But lucky for you, Jordan also has some non-Desert Castles!
Construction on Karak Castle, which is squarely in what was once the land of Moab in Biblical times, was begun in the 1140's. It overlooked the Dead Sea and was the Crusader's attempt to push their influence further out from Damascus. It allowed them to harass travelers, pilgrims and traders along the trade routes from Damascus to Egypt and on to Mecca and other holy sites.
The Crusaders lost Karak when Raynald of Chatillon (who used to amuse himself by throwing prisoners off the towers with boxes around their heads, so the air velocity didn't knock them unconscious before they hit the ground) tried to attack Mecca, drawing the interest and ire of Salah al-Din.
We were suitably impressed by its position, its moat and walls, and especially by its glacis (for those who were as ignorant as we, a glacis is an artificial slope built at the base of castle walls that kept enemies under fire until the very last possible second, eliminating their ability to use the castle walls themselves as a shield). The site is completely un-policed and many parts are un-signed and only partially excavated so we were able to scramble around quite a bit and cross our fingers that we wouldn't fall into any pits.
Construction on Karak Castle, which is squarely in what was once the land of Moab in Biblical times, was begun in the 1140's. It overlooked the Dead Sea and was the Crusader's attempt to push their influence further out from Damascus. It allowed them to harass travelers, pilgrims and traders along the trade routes from Damascus to Egypt and on to Mecca and other holy sites.
The Crusaders lost Karak when Raynald of Chatillon (who used to amuse himself by throwing prisoners off the towers with boxes around their heads, so the air velocity didn't knock them unconscious before they hit the ground) tried to attack Mecca, drawing the interest and ire of Salah al-Din.
We were suitably impressed by its position, its moat and walls, and especially by its glacis (for those who were as ignorant as we, a glacis is an artificial slope built at the base of castle walls that kept enemies under fire until the very last possible second, eliminating their ability to use the castle walls themselves as a shield). The site is completely un-policed and many parts are un-signed and only partially excavated so we were able to scramble around quite a bit and cross our fingers that we wouldn't fall into any pits.
Karak Castle
overlooking Moab and the Dead Sea
Willy encounters a cat
the glacis, stretching down from the Mamluk Keep...the hill in the back left is where Salah al-Din launched his attack on the castle
why yes, we'd love to take a short break on these lovely red satin couches
the dungeons
On our way back to Amman, we stopped at Qasr Qatranah, about which the guidebook didn't have much to say other than it was in a town that invented road-side tea shops in Jordan (there were a lot of them around the Qasr). I was pleasantly surprised to find that the interior was packed full of rooms and platforms and stairs, demonstrating that these little forts actually could be useful and livable, despite their puny size.
Qasr Qatranah
surprisingly packed inside
Kiya and Crew, in his "casual bedouin" gear
1 comment:
Pretty cool. I love seeing baby pictures! Oh and the castle was neat too.
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