Our Visit to Kerak Castle,JORDAN

From Wadi Mujib , we drove forward to reach the town of Kerak,the location of the famous Kerak Castle.

The castle map at the entrance....read it before exploring the castle....will be of great help

History of Kerak Castle...read it....great help to know the castle and the place

 Kerak was the capital of the Biblical kingdom of Moab. Perched atop a steep hill, Kerak is a predominantly Christian town dominated by the largest and best preserved of the Crusader castles in the region.

 Standing 900 meters above sea level, the castle was built by the Crusaders in 1142 AD. Crusaders essentially were from Germany, Belgium, France and some other parts of Europe. Karak castle is a dark maze of stone-vaulted halls and endless passageways. The castle offers an impressive insight into the architectural military genius of the Crusaders. 

View of the town from the castle

Main Entrance Gate

While the castle we see today essentially dates back to the 12^th century, Kerak has been a fortress since Biblical times. The Bible relates how the King of Israel and his allies from Judah and Edom ravaged Moab and besieged its King Mesha in the fortress of Kir Heres, as Kerak was then known.

Centuries later, it took the Crusaders some twenty years to erect their vast castle. Once finished in 1161, it became the residence of the Lord of Transjordan, by then the most important part of the Crusader kingdom, rich in produce and tax revenues. After withstanding several sieges in the early 1170s, Kerak came under the rule of Reynald of Chatillon, a lord who became known for his recklessness and barbarism. Breaking all treaties, he began looting merchant caravans and Mecca-bound pilgrims, attacked the very homeland of Islam – the Hijaz – and raided Arabian ports on the Red Sea, even threatening Mecca itself. Saladin, the ruler of Syria and Egypt, reacted swiftly. He took the town of Karak by force, burned it down and almost managed to storm the castle as well.

The various tunnels and passages

Kerak Castle is a typical example of Crusader architecture, with Romanesque-style stone vaults, numerous corridors, and strong doorways. The Crusader parts of the ruins are mostly on the upper level and can be identified by their dark volcanic tufa; later Arab additions are in white limestone.

Through a massive door (ask at the ticket office), steps lead down to vast, dimly-lit, vaulted rooms and corridors underground.

The upper courtyard includes the remains of a Crusader chapel and provides excellent views over the Jordanian landscape to the Dead Sea.

The west wing of the complex is home to the small Kerak Archaeological Museum, which displays artifacts excavated at the site.

Stairs leading to underground tunnel

Walls of the castle made of strong big stones

The big stone of the walls

We took nearly 2hrs to explore nicely the castle. We enjoyed walking, exploring, clicking pictures of the  tunnels, corridors, strong stone walls of the castle and the stone vault of the castle chapel. Even my daughter (2yrs 3mnths then) loved to walk and move around.

Kerak Castle,JORDAN:Tips for Visitors

The following are some tips for visitors to Kerak Castle:

1) Take a flashlight/torch with you when you visit the crusader castle.There are many tunnels and passages within the depths of the castle, many of that are not lit.

2) Before entering the Castle, spend five minutes to study the map situated at the entrance to the site.You will find it helps you keep your bearings whilst giving you an insightful background to its history and the people who lived there.

3) There are no railings, so be careful in climbing the castle.

4) There is also a small museum inside.Visit it as it offers some nice display.

5) Extremely windy…..carry scarf and hat.Also an umbrella during summer days.

6) Good history and amazing view of the town. You need at least 2hours to see this castle properly.

 7) Be prepared…..need to do lot of walking.Take time to go through most of rooms,passages,tunnels,corridors, up and down stairs,inside and outside. Amazing views of the city from the castle.

8) Don’t forget your camera….take lot of pictures to capture your visit to this historic and beautiful castle.

History of Kerak,JORDAN

The magnificent Crusader fortress of Kerak - Crak des Moabites, or Le Pierre du Desert to Crusaders - soars above its valleys and hills like a great ship riding waves of rock. But Kerak's origins go back long before the Crusaders; the earliest remains are Iron Age, shortly after the Exodus, when this was a part of Moab. It was known as Kir-Haraseth, Kir-heres, or Kir, and its doom was prophesied by Isaiah, who mentions its 'raisin-cakes', presumably a local specialty. Then it falls out of history until the Byzantine period, when it was important enough to have an archbishop.

It was the Crusaders who made Kerak (biblical Charach Mouba) famous.The fortress, located 124 km south of Amman was built in 1142 by Payen le Bouteiller, lord of Montreal and of the province of Oultre Jourdain, on the remains of earlier citadels, which date back to Nabataean times. He made Kerak the new capital of the province, for it was superbly situated onthe King's Highway,where it could control all traffic from north and south and grow rich by the imposition of road-tolls.

There were -as there are today- two parts of Kerak, both contained within stout walls, but the citadel and its fortress are separated from the town by a deep dry moat. The fortress is typically Crusader, with dimly lit stone-vaulted rooms and corridors leading into each other through heavy arches and doorways. The best preserved are underground, and to be reached through a massive door (ask at the ticket office).

The castle in itself is more imposing than beautiful, though it is all the more impressive as an example of the Crusaders' architectural military genius. Each stronghold was built to be a day's journey from its neighbor. At night, a beacon was lit at each castle to signal to Jerusalem that it was safe.

As the visitor enters the modern gate, one path leads down to the stairs to the lower courtyard and lower vaults, and a second path leads to the upper level. The ruins of the upper level are attributed to the Crusader period, and the staircases leading to the underground level of the upper courtyard provide access to Mamluk architecture complexes, most of which were probably associated with a palace. Among these ruins are a well-preserved school with an adjoining mosque.

All the inhabitants of the town could gather for protection within the citadel in times of danger - as they did in 1173 when the Zengid ruler Nureddin attacked the castle. His siege was unsuccessful, as were later attempts by Saladin in 1183 (when the marriage of the heir of Kerak was taking place inside, and Saladin chivalrously kept his siege-engines off the bridal tower), and again in 1184. It was not until the end of 1188, after a siege of more than a year, that Kerak finally surrendered to the Muslims.

Kerak's most famous occupant was Reynald de Chatillon, whose reputation for treachery, betrayal and brutality is unsurpassed. When King Baldwin II (who signed a truce with Saladin) died, his son, a 13-year-old leper, sued for peace with Saladin. The Leper King, however, died without a heir, and in stepped Reynald, who succeeded in the early 1180's in winning the hand of Stephanie, the wealthy widow of Kerak's assassinated regent.

Reynald promptly defied the truce with Saladin, who returned with a huge army, ready for war. Reynald and King Guy of Jerusalem led the Crusader forces and suffered a massive defeat. Reynald was taken prisoner and beheaded by Saladin (the only Crusader king or lord to be executed by Saladin himself), marking the beginning of the decline in Crusader fortunes.

In 1263 the Mamluk Sultan Baybars took Kerak. The Arab traveler Ibn Battuta, who visited it in 1355, was much impressed by the castle's strength, and said that it was also called "The Castle of the Raven". Under Ottomans it was ruled by local families until 1840, when Ibrahim Pasha son of Mohammad Ali of Egypt took it, greatly damaging its defenses. After World War I, Kerak was a British administrative center until Emirate of Transjordan was established in 1921. It remains the center of a large district.

Kerak is still a largely Christian town, and many of today's Christian families trace their origins back to the Byzantines. There is a small but interesting museum in the castle, which is one of the finest of its type surviving today.

Wadi Mujib,JORDAN:Tips for Visitors

Tips for Visitors to Wadi Mujib 

1) It’s magnificent geological formations will take your breath away. So click lot of pictures to capture your visit.

2) You will find lot of hand woven wall hangings, carpets made and sold by the Bediouns. They are nice buy to keep as souvenir.

3) Visit The Mujib Reserve, the lowest nature reserve in the world.

4) Mujib offers a wide variety of hiking trails and the Mujib camping facility offers a peaceful and remote retreat.  The campsite has five spacious tents, a bathroom and barbecue grills for a maximum of 25 people.  Hiking trails vary in length and difficulty, some of which require hiking and even swimming to complete.  A steep, hot region with dramatic cliffs and views, hiking in Mujib is definitely an adventure.

Visit to enticing Wadi Mujib,JORDAN

Our trip to Wadi Al-Mujib was an unforgettable experience. The great wide valley with magnificent geological formations will take your breath away.

The place itself is a great experience to be in or to see the scenery from the top of the mountain.

Using the “King’s Way” we reached Wadi Al Mujib. The King’s Way was built some 4000 years ago to enable trade and to facilitate Roman military movement. It’s the world’s oldest highway and is indeed the most prominent one in Jordan today. The road runs 450 kms from Syria up north to Aqaba down south. 

Wadi Mujib is a gorge in Jordan which enters the Dead Sea at 410meters below sea level.

The Mujib Reserve is the lowest nature reserve in the world, with its spectacular array of scenery near the east cost of the Dead Sea. The reserve is located within the deep Wadi Mujib gorge, which enters the Dead Sea at 410 meters below sea level. The Reserve extends to the Kerak and Madaba mountains to the north and south, reaching 900 meters above sea level in some places. This 1,300-meter variation in elevation, combined with the valley's year- round water flow from seven tributaries, means that Wadi Al Mujib enjoys a magnificent bio-diversity that is still being explored and documented today. Over 300 species of plants, 10 species of carnivores and numerous species of permanent and migratory birds have been recorded until this date. Some of the remote mountain and valley areas are difficult to reach, and thus offer safe havens for rare species of cats, goats and other mountain animals. Many carnivores also inhabit the various vegetation zones of the Mujib area.  The caracal, for example, a medium-sized cat with black and white ear-tufts, lives in its rocky wadis.  The caracal is a powerful and agile hunter with an incredible leaping capacity – able to catch wild birds in its paws.  These and many more animals are now being harboured within the Reserve.

A large dam was recently finished at the bottom of the wadi, where the modern road crosses the river. As a result, a large lake has formed. Today, Wadi Mujib is fed by seven tributaries.

During the last Ice Age the water level of the Dead Sea reached 180 m below sea level, about 230 m higher than it is today. It flooded the lower areas of the canyons along its banks, which became bays and begun to accumulate sediments. As the climatic conditions changed, about 20,000 years ago, the water level of the lake dropped, leaving the re-emergent canyons blocked with lake marl. Most canyons managed to cut through their plugged outlets and to resume their lower courses. However, Wadi Mujib, the biblical Arnon River, abandoned its former outlet by breaking through a cleft in the sandstone. This narrow cleft became the bottleneck of an enormously large drainage basin with a huge discharge. During the years the cleft was scoured deeper and the gorge of Wadi Mujib was formed.

The Mujib reserve consists of mountainous, rocky, and sparsely vegetated desert (up to 800 m), with cliffs, gorges and deep wadis cutting through plateaus. Perennial, spring-fed streams flow down the wadis to the shores of the Dead Sea which lies 400 m below sea-level.

The slopes of the mountaineous land are very sparsely vegetated, with a steppe-type vegetation on plateaus.

You will find lot of hand woven wall hangings, carpets made and sold by the Bedouins. They are nice buy....keep them as souvenir or use them! 

The hot springs of Hammamat Main lie close to the borders of the reserve are heavily used for tourism/recreation.

The Jordanian military have a temporary camp in the south of the reserve.