The Historical Desert Castles

Winter 2006 vacation brought us to two (out of 7 ) historical desert castles found in Jordan…Qasr Harrana and Qasr Amra.

Qasr Harrana.

It is located 65km east of Amman and was built in the 7th century. It is the best-preserved Umayyad castle in Jordan and consists of 61 rooms arranged in two levels surrounded by a central courtyard.

The exterior walls are pierced by narrow openings for lighting and ventilation, not arrow slits as sometimes described. It was also recognized by the historians as the place where the Umayyad leaders held their meetings. Other studies claimed that this castle used to be the transit shelter for the traders coming from all over the arab land.

Originally, a small water tank stood in the middle of the courtyard to collect rain water from the rooftops.Additional water was obtained from seep-holes dug in the valley-bed.

Looking at this beautiful desert castle, I wonder how on earth they could build this ‘ look-like a fort’ castle right in the middle of the hot dry desert ( luckily we went there during winter….cold !! ) …

Standing on top of the Harrana Castle all I could see was miles and miles of dry and bare desert…… it’s such a peaceful moment indeed !!

Qasr Amra

This castle is just 20km from the Harrana Castle, noted for its extensive fresco paintings which cover almost all the interior surfaces. The paintings include themes such as hunting, dancing,musicians and bathing scenes. This unique paintings prompted the UNESCO to include Qasr Amra in its World Heritage list.

This castle consists of 3 main elements :

A rectangular audience-hall with a throne alcove in the middle of the south side.
A bath complex with the cold, warm and hot rooms .
The hydraulic structures including an elevated water-tank, a well and the equipment to drawing water from the well into the water tank.

This castle was not a residential in character , nor was it intended to be occupied over and extended period time. It is just a place to have warm and cosy bath in the middle of the desert.

So, next time when you visit Jordan, these desert castles are always there waiting for you……