Qusayr Amra and the Desert Castles

Qusayr Amra is a small, unglamorous stone building squatting in the eastern desert, and the reason it carries a UNESCO listing is entirely inside. Built in the early eighth century as a bath complex and lodge for an Umayyad caliph, its interior walls and vaults are covered with frescoes that break every later assumption about Islamic art: hunting scenes, craftsmen at work, bathing figures, personifications of poetry and history, and portraits of rulers. In the caldarium the domed ceiling carries a painted map of the night sky with the zodiac and constellations, the earliest known representation of the heavens on a dome. It is usually visited as part of a loop with Qasr Kharana, a square caravanserai-like block, and Qasr Azraq, the black basalt fort where T. E. Lawrence wintered in 1917.

What you actually see

• The frescoed vaults of Qusayr Amra - hunting, bathing and craft scenes across the interior.
• The painted sky dome - the zodiac and constellations on the caldarium ceiling.
• Qasr Kharana - a square two-storey desert block, its purpose still debated.
• Qasr Azraq - black basalt fort with a Lawrence of Arabia connection and Roman origins.

When to go

October to April; the eastern desert in summer is brutally hot and the buildings have no cooling. Start early from Amman to complete the loop comfortably in a day.

Honest expectations

Qusayr Amra is small and the frescoes are faded and, in places, heavily restored, so photographs of it tend to flatter. There is no public transport worth relying on; either drive or hire a car with driver for the loop. The desert castles are spread over long empty stretches, and the driving is a substantial part of the day.

Nearby

Azraq wetland reserve is on the same loop; Amman is around an hour and a half west.