Collection guide · Crusader and Ayyubid period
Jordan’s Crusader Castles
Five castles from the age of the Crusades: the Crusader strongholds of Karak and Shobak, two small forts at Petra, and Ajloun, built by one of Saladin’s emirs to face them.
5Castles
3On the Jordan Pass
1Free entry
Shobak Castle · Photo by Alex Bezrukov
The story
Oultrejordain and Saladin
In the early 12th century the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem pushed east of the Dead Sea. King Baldwin I founded Montréal, today’s Shobak Castle, in 1115, and at about the same time the Crusaders fortified the Petra valley with two small forts, Al-Habis and Al-Wu’ayra, known as Vaux Moise.
Karak Castle followed around 1142, begun by Pagan the Butler. It became the seat of the lordship of Oultrejordain, the Crusader territory east of the Dead Sea, and from 1177 the base of its most famous lord, Raynald of Châtillon.
Saladin besieged Karak in 1183 and 1184 without success. In the end his forces starved the castles out: Saladin’s forces took Karak in 1188 and Shobak in 1189, and the two Petra forts passed to him in the same years. In the north, his commander had already begun Ajloun Castle in 1184–85 to hold the hills against the Crusaders. It is not a Crusader castle, but it belongs to the same story.
The castles outlived the Crusaders. The Ayyubids and Mamluks rebuilt Karak, Shobak and Ajloun; the Mamluk sultan Baybars took Shobak in 1261 and Karak in 1263, and Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad built a palace, a bath and a mosque at Karak in 1311.
At a glance
The 5 castles side by side
Time on site, ticket and road conditions, taken from each travel guide. Filter the table and the map shows the same sites.
| Site | What it is | Time | Ticket | From Amman | 4x4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shobak Castle | Crusader castle of Montréal, 1115 | 1 hr | 1 JOD Jordan Pass | 210 km · About 2 hr 45 min | No |
| Karak Castle | Seat of the lords of Oultrejordain | 1–2 hr | 2 JOD Jordan Pass | 125 km · About 2 hr | No |
| Vaux Moise (al-Wu’ayra) | Crusader fort on a ridge by Petra | 1 hr | Free | 230 km · About 3 hr | No |
| Al-Habis | Crusader fort on a summit in Petra | 40 min | Petra ticket | 235 km · About 3 hr | No |
| Ajloun Castle | Ayyubid castle facing the Crusaders | 1 hr | 3 JOD Jordan Pass | 75 km · About 1 hr 30 min | No |
Normal car
How to visit
Three ways to see them
Karak and Shobak are on the road from Amman to Petra, the two small forts are at Petra itself, and Ajloun is in the north.
Full day, Amman to Petra
Along the King’s Highway
Karak and Shobak lie on the way south to Petra. Allow an hour or two at each and reach Wadi Musa by evening; Vaux Moise is just north of Petra and free to visit.
Add to a Petra day
The forts of Petra
Al-Habis rises above the city centre, a short detour near the start of the Monastery trail behind Qasr al-Bint. Al-Wu’ayra is just north of Petra, across a bridge over a gorge.
Half day from Amman
Ajloun in the north
Ajloun is the one castle north of Amman. It fits well into a half day with Jerash, or a full day with Jerash and Pella.
Travel guides
All 5 castle guides
Jordan Pass
Travel guide
Shobak Castle
The Crusaders’ Montréal, alone on a hill above the plateau, rebuilt by the Ayyubids and Mamluks
Jordan Pass
Travel guide
Karak Castle
A great Crusader castle on a spur above the Dead Sea valley, rebuilt by the Ayyubids and Mamluks
Travel guide
Vaux Moise (al-Wu’ayra)
A Crusader castle on a sandstone ridge just north of Petra, reached by a bridge over a gorge
Travel guide
Al-Habis
The ruins of a Crusader fort on a rocky summit above the centre of Petra
Jordan Pass
Travel guide
Ajloun Castle
An Ayyubid hilltop castle above Ajloun, built by one of Saladin’s emirs
Private tours
Let us drive you
Private tours from Amman that include these castles.
Private tour · 12–13 hr
Best of King’s Highway from Amman to Petra
$330 (235 JOD)
Price varies by group size (1-3 travellers)
Private tour · 5–6 hr
Half-Day Private Tour to Jerash and Ajloun Castle
$130 (92 JOD)
Price varies by group size (1-3 travellers)
Private tour · 6–7 hr
Full-Day Private Tour to Ajloun Castle and Pella
$195 (140 JOD)
Price varies by group size (1-3 travellers)
Private tour · 8–9 hr
Expedition to Qasr Bshir, Lejjun, Umm Ar-Rasas, Karak
$250 (178 JOD)
Fixed price per group (1-3 travellers)Everything about the Crusader castles360° photos, 3D walk-throughs, photo albums, videos and articles: 31 posts
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