"The Ancient Crusader Stronghold Of Karak..." Al Karak by coceng

Al Karak Travel Guide: 38 reviews and 104 photos

MADABA<<<<<AL-KARAK>>>>>PETRA
JORDAN19th April 2005 ( Tuesday )
I woke up early in Madaba, at about 6 am (that's too early for me !) just so that I could catch the school/university bus to Karak !
I wanted to see Karak, I had read so much about this fortress, didn't want to miss it on this trip.
I crept out from the hotel.
The previous night, I had paid for my room just so that I could crept out like this !
Dragging my luggage & walking faster to reach the bus station in Madaba...

INFORMATION...

Karak was the ancient capital of Moab; During Roman times it was known as Characmoba.
It was also The ancient Crusader stronghold.
It lies on the ancient caravan routes that used to connect Egypt to Syria, and its commanding position almost 1000 meters above the Dead Sea Valley made it a strategic location of great importance.
Karak is a very old city and its name was mentioned in The Old Testament .
Karak was mentioned several times in The Bible as Kir, Kir Moab & Kir Heres.
Here lies The Crusader's castle which was built by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1142 AD.

Karak is about 130 km to the south of Amman & 88 km from Madaba.
It is also 930 meters above sea level. It sits on a mountain that overlooks the Dead Sea and and The Jordan Valley.
The Old City of Karak is easy to wander around although if you arrive at the bottom of the hill, you would have to walk up to be at The Karak Castle !
The Old City also consists of many one-way streets which make it a bit confusing as well.
from Karak, it's possible to take the service taxi to Wadi Musa for Petra or reaching here like I did from Madaba.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Impressively Situated On Top Of A Hill...
Cons:Often Ignored By The Travellers, Who Couldn't Wait To Reach Petra, Wadi Rum & Aqaba...
In a nutshell:Just Drop By BEFORE Reaching Those Places Above...