Qasr Mshatta

Mshatta, also known as Qasr al-Mushatta (), is the ruin of an Umayyad winter palace, probably commissioned by Caliph Al-Walid II during his brief reign (743-744). The ruins are located approximately 30 km south of Amman, Jordan, north of Queen Alia International Airport, and are part of a string of castles, palaces and caravanserais known collectively in Jordan and the wider Southern Levant region as the Desert Castles (qasr, pl. qusur). Though much of the ruins can still be found in situ, the most striking feature of the palace, its facade, has been removed and is on display at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The complex was never completed.

==Architecture== The ruins of Mshatta consist of a square enclosure, surrounded by an outer wall containing 25 towers. Its internal space is divided into three equal longitudinal strips, of which just the central one was completed to some degree. This central strip contains three major elements: on its southern side is what K. A. C. Creswell called the "Gateway Block", followed by the large central courtyard, which leads northwards to the reception hall wing. The Gateway Block presents only the foundations of several rooms arranged symmetrically around a small courtyard. Among the rooms there is a small mosque, recognisable by the concave mihrab on its southern wall, facing Mecca.