Qasr Amra, A Dessert Castle in Jordan - Traveler Corner

Qasr Amra is a historic place located in Jordon that is quite popular among tourists. It is basically a red limestone palace. This palace is positioned in the desert east of Amman and dates back to the 8th century. According to the history, this palace was constructed by Omayyad Caliph AL-Walid. Qasr Amra is known by many names, but among the most popular are Little Palace at Amra and Qasr Amra.

The palace may be small in size, but it is very well preserved for a building that is almost 13 centuries old. There are two main parts of the building that all tourists visit during the tour. One is the audience hall which is the first thing you see after entering the building from the north. There are three rooms that make up the baths and they are located to the east of the hall.

The transverse arches show the purely eastern influence in architecture which is quite common among the buildings of that time.

The main thing of beauty in this palace is the frescoes that spread across all of its walls. These paintings, even though very old still look fresh and beautiful. You can see several scenes painted vividly in the frescoes such as scenes of hunting, zodiac signs, constellations, mythological images and sports.

A large painting in the audience hall shows a haloed figure which is most probably the Caliph. The wall next to it is painted with six well-dressed men who are paying respect to the Caliph. These six men are made out to be the Ethiopian Negus, Visigothic king, Byzantium emperor, Persian Shah, Khan of Turks and the emperor of China.

The palace of Qasr Amra has been found out to be only a small part of the larger building during an excavation in 1970’s. Although little is left of rest of the building but it is a place that is worth visiting.