Ajloun Castle

Also known as Qal'at ar-Rabad, Ajlun Castle, Castle of 'Izz ad-Din Usama

Ajloun is the great Ayyubid castle, built specifically as the answer to the Crusader fortresses across the Jordan. Saladin's general 'Izz ad-Din Usama, governor of the Ajloun region, began the work in 1184 to control the iron mines of the surrounding hills, to dominate the northern caravan road from Damascus to Egypt, and — above all — to block the Frankish lords of Belvoir and Kawkab from raiding into the rich agricultural land of the Sawad. A square inner keep with four corner towers was expanded after Hattin into a much larger irregular fortress, the towers rebuilt with the prow-shaped bossed masonry characteristic of late Ayyubid work. Held by the Mamluks after Saladin's dynasty fell, the castle was wrecked by the Mongols in 1260 and then rebuilt yet again. Most of the Ayyubid and Mamluk fabric survives today as one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses in Jordan.

Coordinates: 32.3236°, 35.7275°

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