Vaux Moise

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Vaux Moise
Alternative name (s): al-Wu'aira, Vallem de Mesa
Creation time : 1115
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Wadi Musa
Geographical location 30 ° 19 '59.1 "  N , 35 ° 27' 57.2"  E Coordinates: 30 ° 19 '59.1 "  N , 35 ° 27' 57.2"  E
Height: 1050  m
Vaux Moise (Jordan)
Vaux Moise

Vaux Moise (Latin: Vallem de Mesa , Arabic: al-Wuʿaira (الوعيرة), also: le Val Moïse , li Vaux Moysi , Val Moyse , Wadi Musa ) is the ruin of a small crusader castle above the present-day town of Wadi Musa (also Gaia) in Jordan .

The castle ruins stand on a hill above the so-called "Valley of Moses ", after which the castle is named. About 3 kilometers to the southwest is the ancient rock city of Petra .

The castle was an outpost of the crusader fortress Montréal, about 25 kilometers further north, and belonged to the Oultrejordain rule . The crusaders were able to control the pilgrim and caravan route from Damascus to the Red Sea from this and other castles in Oultrejordain , which brought them immense customs revenues.

history

Around 1107, King Baldwin I of Jerusalem began regular raids on the Muslim caravan routes east of the Jordan . In 1115, the crusaders began to take permanent possession of the region as Oultrejordain. To secure this rule, Baldwin built Castle Montreal and probably also Vaux Moise Castle in the same year. The castle was probably initially only a temporarily fortified outpost on the remains of an ancient Nabatean or Roman complex. Around 1142, the Pagan Castle of Montreal was significantly expanded.

In 1144 the castle was attacked by local Bedouins, conquered by surprise and the Franconian garrison was killed. At that time the crusaders were in a weakened position, as their king Fulk had died and his successor Baldwin III. still underage. The only 13-year-old king then had his first expedition equipped, the castle besieged and recaptured. The castle was re-equipped with a solid garrison that withstood a siege by the Fatimids in 1158 . After Saladin's victory at Hattin , Vaux Moise was finally conquered by the Ayyubids in 1188 .

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