The authentic 12th century Karak castle
Trip Start
Jan 19, 2010
1
28
36
Trip End
Jan 26, 2010
Where I stayed
Karak, Jordan
Monday, January 25, 2010
By carefully driving this huge whale of a bus through very narrowed roads, we made our entrance into the town of Karak by staring at this overwhelming silhouette of a Crusader castle sitting high above at the top of a hill. Just like Shobak, this Karak Crusader castle was built in the 12th century.
Descending from the bus, the entire group followed Rod across a bridge leading to the castle's gate. Being so windy, I had to hold on to the handrail in order to advance forward.
The Karak Crusader castle had more imposing military architecture than beauty. It was huge and had several dark hallways of roughly shape stones and endless passageways. One had a feeling of walking into a maze with no end in sight.
As explained by Rod, this was where the fates of kings and nations were done and undone for centuries since from the top of the hill, the enemies could be spotted approaching in the far distance.
It was quite impressive to be able to walk down the alleys and to relive the Crusaders era. Several wings would lead us in various directions all being dark and damp. Canon holes could still be seen on the walls, an indication of battles having taken place centuries ago.
Thankful for Crusaders castles!
Monique :-)
