Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
fresh mint tea and take time to discuss the issues of the day. Your patronage will be much
appreciated if the current absence of tourism continues.
Getting There & Away
Kharana is 16km further west along Hwy 40 from Qusayr Amra. There's no viable public
transport along the highway (although it could be included in a roundtrip by taxi from
Azraq, from JD20) and the castle is only signposted coming from Amman. It's easier to
spot than neighbouring Amra, especially as it's disappointingly close to a power station.
Qasr al-Mushatta
Of the five major desert castles, the 'winter palace' of
Qasr al-Mushatta
(admission free;
daylight hr)
is the most difficult and time consuming to reach, and thus usually not
part of most organised tours. This is not to say that Mushatta is located in the middle of
nowhere - on the contrary, it's actually the closest of the desert castles to Amman. In fact,
if you're travelling around Jordan in a rental car, the ruins may be the last thing you see in
the country as they're located right next to Queen Alia International Airport!
The construction of Qasr al-Mushatta is believed to have started in about AD 743, un-
der Caliph Walid II, who intended to establish a large city in the area. Although the fort
was planned as the biggest and most lavish of all the desert castles, it was never finished.
In 744, Walid II was assassinated by angry labourers, many of whose colleagues had died
during construction due to a lack of water in the area. If you ignore the occasional sound
of jumbo jets soaring overhead, the extensive ruins hint at the caliph's grand vision.
Many pieces have disappeared over the years, ending up in museums around the world.
The elaborate carving on the facade was shipped off to Berlin (it's now in the Pergamon
Museum) after the palace was 'given' to Kaiser Wilhelm in 1903 by Sultan Abd al-Hamid
of Turkey. Mushatta was also partially destroyed by earthquakes, and most of the columns
and watchtowers have long since collapsed. Despite the castle's slow demise, the huge ex-
terior wall and carved facades still hint at the original grandeur of the site.
To the right of the entrance are the ruins of a mosque, with a rebuilt
mihrab
(niche in
mosque, indicating direction of Mecca). The northern sections encompass the remains of a
vaulted
audience hall
and
residences
. Segmented pillars lie scattered around like broken
vertebrae. One unusual feature of the site is that the vaults were made from burnt bricks
