Travel Guide Mukawir

On the Kings' Road, at Libb (between Madaba and Kerak), a small road leads off to the right towards the village of Mukawir, 20 kilometers away. You can also continue the road from Ma'in Springs if you plan to stop there. The small village in the mountains overlooking the Dead Sea is known for the ruins of a fortress erected by the Romans in the first century. According to the Jerusalem-born Roman historian Flavius Josephus, it was here that St. John the Baptist was taken and executed in 32, by order of King Herod Antipas. He considered John the Baptist to be a heretic and had demanded his head. Although there is not much left of this fortress that once topped a hill, the view of the Dead Sea and its desolate landscape are worth it.