Aqaba Castle is an ancient castle located in the center of the city of Aqaba in southern Jordan, specifically on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba. This castle dates back to the end of the Mamluk era in the region, but today it has been turned into a museum.
The Aqaba Fortress is also known as Mamluk Castle. It offers a glimpse into the rich history of Aqaba as every corner of the castle recites a tale about its magnificence and grandeur. In earlier times it served as a pilgrimage stop, but now it’s a popular tourist site.
The castle has a quadrilateral shape, and on each corner, there is a stone tower, and these towers have now been destroyed. 1501-1516), the phrase was written: “He ordered the construction of this blessed and happy castle, our Master the Sultan, the Ashraf King Abu Al-Nasr Qansuh Al-Ghouri, the Sultan of Islam and the Muslims,” and “Our Master, Sultan Al-Ashraf King Murad bin Salim Khan, may his victory, renew this castle.”
One of the highlights of the castle is the Aqaba mast. It was built in 2004 in the square adjacent to the castle to carry the flag of the Great Arab Revolt. At that time, the mast was the tallest in the world.
The castle was originally built as a Crusader castle, and it was largely rebuilt by the Mamluks in the fourteenth century, specifically in 1587 AD during the reign of the last Mamluk sultan, and it changed several times after that. By the beginning of the sixteenth century, Aqaba fell under the control of Ottoman rule. The city declined and remained a small and insignificant fishing village for about 400 years. During World War I in 1917, the Ottoman forces withdrew from the city after the Arab army of Sharif Hussein bin Ali, leader of the Great Arab Revolt with the help of Lawrence of Arabia, attacked them. It became one of the main strongholds of the revolt against the Turks. The fortress was under Egyptian authority until the year 1892 when it was handed over to the Ottoman Empire until the Great Arab Revolt began, and the Jordanian tribes took it as a headquarters and a starting point for liberating the Levant from the Ottoman rule that lasted 400 years.