The triple-arched hall
The main hall's arches.
Mohammad hajeer — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mohammad hajeer — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mohammad hajeer — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mohammad hajeer — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) — CC BY-SA 4.0
The largest and most ambitious of the Umayyad desert palaces, a vast square about 144 metres a side, begun by Caliph al-Walid II around 743 AD; work stopped after his murder the following year, so the palace was never finished. Its fame rests on its carved south facade: a long stone band of triangles and rosettes filled with fine carvings of vines, birds and animals. In 1903 the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II gave most of it to the German emperor Wilhelm II; it was taken to Berlin, where it is one of the best-known pieces of the Museum of Islamic Art, and only small parts remain on site. What you see today is the gateway and the main hall with its triple arches, tall walls of fired brick, rare in Jordan and a sign of builders from Iraq, and the stumps of round towers along the outer wall. The palace adjoins the airport grounds, so the road in passes a checkpoint where a passport or ID is asked for; visits are usually quiet, with few other people.
The main hall's arches.
Fired brick, rare in Jordan.
Most of it is now in Berlin.
Beside Queen Alia International Airport, about 30 km south of Amman
Most of the carved facade has been in Berlin's Museum of Islamic Art since it was given to the German emperor in 1903; small parts remain on site.
Caliph al-Walid II began it around 743 and building stopped after his murder in 744.