Can best be combined with a one-day or two-day trip to Petra or Dana.
To get there, it is a two and half hour drive. Due to current works on
the Petra road, the best way to take would be the Hussainieh exit at
the Desert Highway, drive through Qadisyeh and head south till you
reach Nijil. Best destination for buying Jordan’s tastiest summer
fruits; specially apples. Protect yourself from sun, which is
particularly strong in Shobak due to clean atmosphere and elevation
from sea level. Shobak destination is suitable for children, and is
excellent for those who like to discover the many less known
attractions within a 10 km radius of the castle.
Built during the Crusader times, 887 years ago, Shobak castle appears
as a natural extension of a dramatic hill. The location has provided
the castle with a natural mote; a system of valleys that surround a
central hill from all directions. The terrain shows unusual geologic
activities, rock layers tilted from horizontal to almost vertical,
sharp hillsides with rock cliffs, and rugged terrain that gains height
towards the west before abruptly dropping into distant depths Wadi
Araba. All of these geomorphologic features have provided the site of
the castle with a strategic location that is, naturally, easy to
defend. The shape of the landscape also helped in providing water.
Springs gush from valleys facing east; which is unlike the usual trend
where springs at villages in south Jordan come out of slopes facing
west (Wadi Musa, Tafileh, Dana, Taybeh, and others). The way in which
this castle uses its natural elegant pedestal, both for acquiring its
magnificent vertical scale for defense and for benefiting from cool
spring water, is part of the overall charming qualities of this
monument. |
While the Crusaders called it “Le Krak de Montreal”, the current name
of Shobak refers to the castle as well as to its surroundings group of
about ten villages. The recent history of the castle is directly
connected to these villages. People of Shobak still remember when the
castle was inhabited (till 1950s), they would tell a story where each
tower was occupied by one of the clans, and how the people spread
around the castle in villages like Al-Jayeh, Mugar’ieh, Nijil, Al
Mansura, Shammakh and others.
At the castle entrance, on the eastern elevation, is one of the towers
with beautiful Arabic calligraphy, using big size letters braded in
the Mamluk stile and dated to the later rebuilding works of 1290s.
Walking in the ruined parts of the castle you can notice some
architectural elements of European stile, almost gothic, while other
parts are reminiscent architecture from Mamluk Cairo. The most
interesting feature is the effects of ruined architecture playing with
the views of the vast landscape around. The castle plays with its
surrounding in an amusing way, windows whistling in the wind,
partially collapsed openings squeezing the outside glare to draw
shapes of sun on flooring stones, and rooms where the end wall has
fallen in the deep valley below. The effects of time are stunning and
entertaining. |
In Shobak, locals talk of passages with no ends, pitch dark and scary.
From one of these passages, steps bring you down to the natural water
table below the castle. This means that the steps should reach a point
equal or lower than the springs at the villages surrounding the
castle. References mention some 375 steps of which archaeologists have
reached al low as 150 or so. Adding up the vertical heights of all
steps would give an estimated 75 meters in vertical distance; the
prospect of hitting water at these depths is very credible. The
investment in digging such a staircase in layers of hard bedrock is
definitely worth it, especially when knowing that most, in most cases,
the siege of castles in such a dry region ends up with surrender from
thirst.
Shobak, the castle and its villages, remains one of the most pristine
stretches of the Jordanian landscape. The undefiled natural and
cultural features are reminiscent of Jordan of the 1960s, or pictured
in reports and travel literature of times gone. One also feels a
peculiar purity of air, crisp colors and some sharpness in all land
features. All these qualities create a sparkling sense of focus that
elevates Shobak to a location of spiritual stature. |
