Shobak
A castle with secret passages Or “Le Krak de Montreal”
Can best be combined with a one-day or two-day trip to Petra or Dana. To get there, it is a two and half hour drive. Due to current works on the Petra road, the best way to take would be the Hussainieh exit at the Desert Highway, drive through Qadisyeh and head south till you reach Nijil. Best destination for buying Jordan’s tastiest summer fruits; specially apples. Protect yourself from sun, which is particularly strong in Shobak due to clean atmosphere and elevation from sea level. Shobak destination is suitable for children, and is excellent for those who like to discover the many less known attractions within a 10 km radius of the castle.
Built during the Crusader times, 887 years ago, Shobak castle appears as a natural extension of a dramatic hill. The location has provided the castle with a natural mote; a system of valleys that surround a central hill from all directions. The terrain shows unusual geologic activities, rock layers tilted from horizontal to almost vertical, sharp hillsides with rock cliffs, and rugged terrain that gains height towards the west before abruptly dropping into distant depths Wadi Araba. All of these geomorphologic features have provided the site of the castle with a strategic location that is, naturally, easy to defend. The shape of the landscape also helped in providing water. Springs gush from valleys facing east; which is unlike the usual trend where springs at villages in south Jordan come out of slopes facing west (Wadi Musa, Tafileh, Dana, Taybeh, and others). The way in which this castle uses its natural elegant pedestal, both for acquiring its magnificent vertical scale for defense and for benefiting from cool spring water, is part of the overall charming qualities of this monument. While the Crusaders called it “Le Krak de Montreal”, the current name of Shobak refers to the castle as well as to its surroundings group of about ten villages. The recent history of the castle is directly connected to these villages. People of Shobak still remember when the castle was inhabited (till 1950s), they would tell a story where each tower was occupied by one of the clans, and how the people spread around the castle in villages like Al-Jayeh, Mugar’ieh, Nijil, Al Mansura, Shammakh and others.
At the castle entrance, on the eastern elevation, is one of the towers with beautiful Arabic calligraphy, using big size letters braded in the Mamluk stile and dated to the later rebuilding works of 1290s. Walking in the ruined parts of the castle you can notice some architectural elements of European stile, almost gothic, while other parts are reminiscent architecture from Mamluk Cairo. The most interesting feature is the effects of ruined architecture playing with the views of the vast landscape around. The castle plays with its surrounding in an amusing way, windows whistling in the wind, partially collapsed openings squeezing the outside glare to draw shapes of sun on flooring stones, and rooms where the end wall has fallen in the deep valley below. The effects of time are stunning and entertaining.
يمكنك رؤيتها من خلال القوقل إيرث
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=30.656225&lon=35.555191&z=11&l=0&m=a&v=2
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