Private Desert Castles of Eastern Jordan Tour from Amman

The Desert Castles of eastern Jordan

The so-called Desert Castles are a group of buildings raised in the badia, the stony desert east of Amman, mostly by the Umayyad dynasty in the late seventh and eighth centuries. Despite the name, few were true castles: they served as hunting lodges, bathhouses, caravan stops and places where rulers met the tribes of the desert.

A Desert Castles tour from Amman is one of the easiest half-day trips in Jordan and a quiet contrast to the busier sites in the south. The three castles on this route are close to one another along the highway to Azraq, so you see very different architecture, from limestone halls to painted vaults and basalt walls, in a single morning.

Qasr Kharana

Qasr Kharana stands alone on the open plain about an hour east of Amman, a square two-storey building with round corner towers that looks every bit like a fortress. Inside, around 60 rooms are arranged on two floors around a central courtyard, with carved plaster decoration and vaulted halls.

A painted inscription inside dates the building to around AD 710, making it one of the earliest Islamic monuments in the region. Its narrow slits were probably for light and air rather than archers, and historians believe it was a meeting place for Umayyad leaders and local tribes. Allow about 30 to 40 minutes to climb to the upper floor and enjoy the view over the desert.

Qasr Amra and its frescoes

Qasr Amra, about 20 minutes further east, is a small bathhouse and reception hall built in the early eighth century and listed by UNESCO in 1985. From outside it looks modest, but its walls and vaults are covered with the most important surviving early Islamic paintings: hunting scenes, musicians, craftsmen, bathers, animals and allegorical figures.

In the domed hot room of the baths, the ceiling shows the night sky with the constellations of the zodiac, one of the earliest known depictions of the heavens on a dome. Is Qasr Amra worth visiting? For lovers of art and history it is the highlight of the day. Your guide explains the scenes, and about 30 minutes is enough to see them unhurried.

Qasr Azraq, the black basalt fortress

Qasr Azraq sits in the town of Azraq, about 25 minutes from Qasr Amra. Built of dark basalt, the fortress has Roman origins and was rebuilt by the Ayyubids in the thirteenth century to guard the oasis and the caravan routes to Arabia. A small mosque stands in its courtyard.

Look for the massive basalt door, a single slab of stone that still turns on its hinges, and the stables and rooms set around the walls. Azraq was once a large oasis of pools and marshes on the route of migrating birds, and the Azraq Wetland Reserve nearby can be added with another option. Allow about 30 minutes at the fortress before lunch in town.

How to get to the Desert Castles and when to go

The castles lie along the road from Amman to Azraq, between about 60 and 100 kilometres east of the capital, with little public transport. That is why travellers asking how to get to the Desert Castles usually choose a private car and driver: you reach all three sites in one loop and return to Amman in the afternoon.

The castles open daily from morning to late afternoon, and the 9:00 pickup gets you to Qasr Kharana before the midday heat. Spring and autumn are the most pleasant seasons, while summer days on the open plain are hot and winter mornings can be cold and windy, so bring a layer and a hat.