It is located in the city of Ma’an, approximately 210 km south of the capital Amman, built atop a conical mountain within the Ash Sharah mountain range.

The castle holds strategic significance, as the Nabateans built a military fortress here. Later, the Crusader leader Baldwin I constructed a castle on the site of the Nabatean fortress, naming it Montreal. It was later liberated by the Ayyubids during the reign of Sultan Salahdin after the Crusaders’ defeat.

Among the most notable architectural elements of Shobak Castle are: the walls, the entrance, the inner gate, the upper church, the vault of the upper church, the lower church, the soap factory, the Crusader palace, the semi-circular tower, the Ayyubid reception hall, Al-Raghaya  water spring tunnel, and the Mamluk public building.