Day-4: Karak Castle
This was the first real stop after 4 hours driving trip from Madaba. The crusader castle which is built in the town which is now also called Karak. It is lying on the side of the hill with 2 valleys made a triangle shape. The castle can be spotted from afar – even from the previous hill before we’re near to the town. The hill was black and this castle is built from white rock.
The guide drove us to the main street passing the town and went on the back side of the castle (or was it the proper front side), which there is a small street looks like the old part of the town. This street was crowded with housing areas and vehicles, made it a bit difficult to get a parking lot
Anyway – I jumped out of the car, stretched my back and start wandering around the castle.
As some tourist sites in Jordan has fooled me with their unimpressive front appearance, but once I have passed the ticket counter and souvenirs section and start to see the real part of the site, again my jaw dropped and I took my first opinion backJ.
They have decent bathrooms which is located in front of the souvenirs shops on the way out and also a decent look restaurant on the entrance.
The castle itself is not so huge, but has several interesting and secluded part with some ruins.
From one of the castle we can see almost the whole part of the valley – some said that if the visibility is good we can see as far as
One of the famous owner of this castle is Reynald de Chantillons who controlled the herd and trade path from and to Syria - Eqypt.
Most of the castle part has been renovated and added new parts- especially in the front section. Apparently there is an archeological museum in the lower part of the hill, the samecomplex as this castle - which I didn't check.
The castle extends over the southern part of the plateau. It is a notable example of Crusader architecture, a mixture of European, Byzantine, and Arab designs. Its walls are strengthened with rectangular projecting towers, long stone vaulted galleries are lighted only by narrow slits, and a contains a deep moat from the west which completely isolates the site.
