Qasr al-Azraq is a large fortress, it is one of the desert castles, located on the outskirts of present-day Azraq, roughly 100 km east of Amman. Its strategic value came from the nearby oasis, the only water source in a vast desert region.
The castle is constructed of the local black basalt and is a square structure with 80 metre long walls encircling a large central courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard is a small mosque that may date from Umayyad times. At each corner of the outer wall, there is an oblong tower. The main entrance is composed of a single massive hinged slab of granite, which leads to a vestibule where one can see carved into the pavement the remains of a Roman board game.
The area was inhabited by the Nabataean people and around 200 CE fell under the control of the Romans. The Romans built a stone structure using the local basalt stone that formed a basis for later constructions on the site, a structure that was equally used by the Byzantine and Umayyad empires.
Qasr al-Azraq underwent its final major stage of building in 1237 CE, when ‘Izz ad-Din Aybak, an emir of the Ayyubids, redesigned and fortified it. The fortress in its present form dates to this period
Narration: English
