I will be honest here. I really thought that we were going to Jordan primarily to see Petra. I had no idea prior to this trip that there is so much more to see in Jordan than Petra. In fact I think we would have benefited from having a lot more time in Jordan just so we could have a little more time at some of the sites. I certainly wasn’t expecting to see medieval castles, but lo and behold, we did.
We visited two castles in Jordan: Kerak castle and Ajlun castle. According to Wikipedia, Kerak was a Crusader castle built in the 12th century. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerak.
Here it is from the road. And yes, that would be a carnival at the base of the hill.
The castle itself was really impressive.
It was dark inside, but eerily lit by daylight from skylights and arrow slits.
Here we are at the stables inside Kerak castle. It’s weird to think horses lived inside the castle, but I don’t even have the guide book anymore, so I’m just trusting what I was told.
The following photos are from Ajlun castle. According to Wikipedia, Ajlun castle was an Islamic fortress built to fend off the attacking crusaders from Kerak castle. You can read a little more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajlun_Castle
It was beautifully lit inside… which made for interesting sights and blurry pictures.
We had a lot of fun exploring the castles. They were empty inside, but it was easy to imagine how they would have looked when they were inhabited. There were a few other castles we did not get visit during our trip, but maybe one day we’ll be back.