Fortress of Karak

Situated 118 kilometres south of Amman, the fortress of Karak is surrounded to the east and west by deep valleys, and strategically speaking overlooks all the roads leading to southern Jordan. Like the castles of Shawbak and Kawkal al-Hawa, Karak was intended to survey the trade routes and the cultivation of local land by the Franks, and to weaken the Ayyubid princes. Built by the feudal governor Payen le Bouteiller (Paganus the Butler), in 1177, the fortress became the property of Renault de Châtillon and served as a starting point for his campaigns. It was then rapidly transformed into a strategic frontier fortress for the road between Mecca, Egypt and Syria; this caused Saladin to besiege it – unsuccessfully – for three months in 1183. A second attempt failed in 1184. A third, in the wake of the battle of Hattin (1187) lasted seven months and ended in the taking of the castle in 1188.

The limestone used here came from local quarries. The stone-working techniques reveal the difference between Francs and Muslims: the former used large, uncut stones averaging 1.5 metres long, while the latter opted for medium-sized blocks fitting neatly together. At Karak the Francs also used block and header bonding, which is found in other Western and Islamic monumental structures.

Set on a rocky plateau, the castle reveals in its plan and elevation a response to the natural makeup of the site. Arid and slippery, the slopes form the first line of defence. The plan is an irregular trapezium and comprises two compounds, a higher and a lower one.

To the east the wall, dating from the Crusades, is orchestrated by four quadrangular towers. To the west, it dates from the Ayyubid or Mameluke period; it is punctuated by twenty-nine arrow slits, all identical, and a protected parapet runs along the top. Trenches were dug to the north and south, while well-preserved sloping walls protected the east and west sides. These walls were covered with very smooth stone which made them impossible to climb and at the same time protected the castle against earthquakes. To the northeast the entrance section, reached via a drawbridge, was flanked by two towers. It led to a long, vaulted corridor that descended gradually and turned at a right angle. Two other entrances at the northwest corner and to the south are now sealed off. The southern one, called the "Gate of Victory" still has its drawbridge and machicolations.

Built into the walls, sometimes on several levels, are various rooms and sleeping accommodation for soldiers. These are sometimes linked by corridors whose windows let in air and light. Inside the fortress the upper courtyard contains a church, an oven, a Turkish bath, a school and a mosque, together with rooms, terraces and barracks. The lower courtyard contains large rooms, barracks, galleries and a prison.

The ornamentation is sober and mainly composed of relief carvings of flowers with six or eight petals atop one of the facades of the Turkish bath and the school. There is also Mameluke calligraphy in Thuluth script.

Architecturally speaking Karak is similar to a number of other Crusader fortresses such as the Castle of the Knights (1031) in Syria and Shawbak (1115) in Jordan. Certain features, like the two-courtyard system, are direct borrowings from European architecture. The sloping walls also suggest a link with the citadel of Aleppo.