35 kilometers away from the well-known town of Petra there is another impressive monument — Shoubak Castle. Its history is strongly connected to the Crusades. Shoubak is a municipality that lies at the northwestern edge of the Ma’an Governorate in Jordan. At one of the highest elevations above sea level in Jordan, this municipality is famous for apple and fruit farms.

Shobak Castle is the name given to the ruins of a Crusader castle perched on a rocky hill in the modern town of Shobak (or Shoubak) in Jordan. The hill was formerly called Mons Realis, Royal Mountain, which gives the traveler an idea of the castle’s former might and majestic location.

The castle was built in 1115 by Baldwin I during his expedition to the region. He was the first king of the Crusader state of Jerusalem from 1100 to 1118, and played a key role in expanding the kingdom and establishing a form of rule that would serve as a model for the Franks in Syria and Palestine for 200 years.