From the Queen Alia international airport on the way to Karak through the winding highway, you will pass by a small town called Al Qatraneh. Within it, there is this small cube-shaped fort that is called Castle Qatraneh. Built roughly around 1531 by the Ottomans out of locally sources quarry stones, the castle used to function as a rest point for all those on a pilgrimage in the desert.

From the outside the cube shaped architecture gave the impression of a fortress like structure, but within the walls reveals a different story. The architecture reveals a caravanserai. A caravanserai was a roadside inn that allowed travelers to rest and recover from the day’s travels and get necessary supplies to invigorate them for the coming journey. These caravanserai also usefully facilitated the trade of goods, information and people across a system of trade routes.

One will inevitably pass by this castle structure while on their way to Karak Castle, Wadi Bin Hammad, Ma’an, Petra or Aqaba.