The whole afternoon, we spent at Gondar Castle, or the Fasil Ghebbi, a fortified royal enclosure built in the 17th century (🎟️1,000 ETB). Before 1636, Ethiopian rulers used nomadic, mobile capitals. Emperor Fasilides settled in Gondar, a previously obscure village, establishing it as the...
Google Maps again took us through a lovely scenic, super narrow, and steep road to Shobak Castle, perched in a wild, remote landscape. So we got a few good shots, but on the way back, we used the other “correct road.” We also had to say that the brown signboards led cars to...
After so many troubles with narrow, steep roads in Jordan, we were unsure where to stop to visit Kerak castle, so we parked on the crossing next to the abandoned amusement park and took the local van to the castle (2 JOD). It was a good parking spot; even traffic police opened a...
The castle commands views of the Jordan Valley and three wadis leading into it. It is an essential strategic link in the defensive chain against the Crusaders and a counterpoint to the Crusader Belvoir Fort on the Sea of Galilee in present-day Israel and the Palestinian Territories. This...
We overnight close to the “Monastery of Caves,” a purpose-built Roman fort in the 4th century. The fort primarily served as a sentry post. Like its famous neighbor Umm Al Jimal, Dayr Al Kahf is also constructed of black basalt, though the scattered ruins here are not nearly as...
This small Roman fort, built from basalt in the 3rd century over the ruins of a 1st-century Nabataean building, is between Azraq and Safawi. We do not know why, but the 10km access road stops about 1km from the hilltop fort. The graded track thereafter is not passable by car. Anyway, the...
We drove through dusty Azraq in cloudy and windy weather to the imposing fort where T.E. Lawrence and Sharif Hussein bin Ali based themselves in the winter of 1917–18 during the Arab Revolt against the Turks. Lawrence set up his quarters above the southern entrance while his loyal...
The guard at one of the best-preserved desert buildings of the Umayyads explained frescoes to us, which was our highlight of a trip into the Eastern Desert. The little castle is part of a much greater complex that served as a caravanserai, bathhouse, and hunting lodge. It is renowned for...
A terribly damaged road brought us to the thick-walled structure in the middle of a vast, treeless plain. Although its function and purpose are controversial, this important Umayyad structure remains an exciting sight of the main Azraq–Amman road. Although it isn’t a castle, Kharana was a...
We spent a day under the bare, rugged foothills of the Hajar Mountains in Fujairah City. The city’s line of mid-rises and office blocks rises from the arid plain. Its busy main street, Hamad Bin Abdullah Rd, is a muddle of worn strip malls and semi-flashier glass and steel running...