Castles in the desert

The road back from Al - Azraq to Amman leads past the most well-preserved of all the desert castles Qasr - Amra, introduced in 1985 in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The castle, built in the VIII century, was a one and the same time, the fortress housed a garrison and a residence Umayyad caliphs. Looking at his line lump, hard to imagine that the inside is covered with beautiful paintings. Opposite the main entrance is placed a fresco depicting the caliph sitting on a throne. On the south wall murals depict the six other "infidel" rulers, probably, the enemies of Islam. This is quite unusual, because in Islam there is a ban on images of people, animals, birds and landscapes. The main attraction is the castle hall for audiences, as well as the public baths. Vaults kaldariuma (steam bath) depict a map of the sky, with constellations of the Northern Hemisphere and the signs of the zodiac, and in the bathrooms you will find beautiful mosaic floors. Another well-preserved castle, Qasr - Al - Harraneh, located 55 km from Amman, remains a mystery to archeologists and historians. To this day, unknown if it was a caravan - shed, or fortress. In favor of the defensive functions of the castle wall told him in the shape of a square loop-holes, four flank. However, no walls, no towers were not high enough to provide reliable protection, and the loopholes were more decoration, because it does not provide an adequate review. The oldest of the palaces of the Umayyads is Al - Castano, built by Caliph Abd - Al - Malik ibn Marwan, 25 km south of Amman. Until now, the ruins of the main palaces, mosques, residential areas, a Muslim cemetery (the oldest in Jordan). The palace was decorated with stone statues and 12 round towers. One kilometer to the east you can see the remains of a stone dam.