When the Shadow Gives Way (Jordan, Kerak)

Kerak was one of the major Crusader strongholds in the 12th century, built on a rocky spur overlooking the Wadi Karak valley.

This castle, caught between the conflicts of Saladin and the Latin kingdoms, is a witness to the stratification of empires: Byzantine, Arab, Crusader, Mamluk. It preserves in its vaulted bowels underground rooms, formerly used as warehouses, stables or refuges.

In these architectures designed for defense and resistance, natural light was never decorative: it served to guide, ventilate, and conceal. The precise alignment of an opening allowing a ray of sunlight to reach a strategic point on the ground could also mark astronomical or symbolic landmarks.

Kerak remains one of the few Crusader castles in such good condition in the Middle East , still little visited despite its historical importance. Today, it embodies this memory buried between shadow and silence, where each flash of light becomes an indication of life.