The castle is one of the best preserved and most complete examples of Medieval Arab-Islamic military architecture. The castle is one of the best preserved examples of Medieval Arab-Islamic military architecture. Among its main features are a surrounding dry moat, a drawbridge into the main entrance, the fortified entrance gate, a massive south tower, and several other towers on all sides. The castle boasts a labyrinth of vaulted passages, winding staircases, long ramps, enormous rooms that served as dining halls, dormitories, and stables, and the private quarters of the Lord of the Castle (complete with a small stone bathtub and rectangular windows that convert into arrow-slits for defensive purposes). In the nearby village of Tubna, visitors will find a Zeidani mosque and a meeting hall dating back to 1750 AD. Visitors will also find a structure known as “Al’ali Shreidah”, home of the governor of the region before the establishment of modern Jordan. The governor’s home was much admired by the contemporaries due to the fact that it was the first twolevel building in the region. Settlement in Zubia Village, within the Ajlun district, dates back to the Byzantine period. There is an area in the village known as “the monastery”, which contains the remains of an old Byzantine church. There are also houses and stables dating back several hundred years. A spring located in a valley between Zubia and Tubna served as a major source of water for the surrounding settlements. Today, there are more than ten villages surrounding the Ajlun Reserve. The area is famous for its olive trees and its assorted products.
Directions By car or taxi: From Amman take the Zarqa-Mafraq highway north and follow the signs. A short journey west from Jerash, through pine forest and olive groves, brings you to the town of Ajlun.
DID YOU KNOW? During Mameluke rule, Ajlun Castle (Qal’at al Rabadh) was one of a network of beacons and pigeon posts that allowed messages to be transmitted from Damascus to Cairo in just 12 hours! Ajlun Castle protected the communication routes between south Jordan and Syria, and was one of a chain of forts, which lit beacons at night to pass signals from the Euphrates as far as Cairo.
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