The old town spreads downhill from the castle gate in a tangle of narrow streets and Ottoman houses, many of them built from the same honey-coloured limestone as the fortress above. It is not a manicured tourist zone — this is a real Jordanian town with a daily souk, a couple of mosques, several pastry shops, and the usual confusion of taxis and pickup trucks.
A walk down from the castle towards Al-Jami' Street, then along the spine of the ridge, takes you past most of the surviving Ottoman façades, a few late-Mamluk arches, and the small Islamic Museum on the way. Friday mornings are quiet; the souk is busiest on Thursday and Saturday afternoons.