Amman, the capital
of Jordan, was populated by different civilities and is a city where the modern
buildings are fused with the rests of the ancient monuments. Amman was known in
the Old Testament as the Rabbà of the Ammonites and was later rebaptized
Philadelphia by the Ptolemaic sovereign Filadelfo. Under the influence of the
roman culture the typical roman large style was reconstructed. Its period of
maximum splendor was the Omayyadi era. You can’t miss the roman theater, the
temple of Hercules and the Omayyadi Palace.
Jerash,
north of Amman, is a marvelous archeological site dating back to the roman age.
With Alexander the Great in the IV c. b.C. during the period of roman
domination, once known as Gerasa, it had its golden period. The Persian
invasion and the Muslim conquest of 636 a.C., and a series of earthquakes
damaged the city and hurried its decline. It was left abandoned until it was
discovered again in 1806, buried by the sand, that facilitated its
conservation.
Scattered
through the black-basalt desert, east of Amman there are the beginnings of the
Arab-Muslim civility that erect as their testimony. The castles were built majorly under the
Omayyadi (661-750 a.C).
From this
castle you can enjoy a splendid view on the Jordan Valley. It was built by the
Muslim in 1184-1185 as a military fortress. For its hilly location, the castle
of Ajloun protected the routes between the southern Jordan and the Syria.
Along the
“King’s Street”, the first city that you find is Madaba. It was dominated first
by the Israelite, then it became a roman colony in 63 a.C. and it continued to
flourish during the Byzantine and Omayyade epoch. Its peculiarities are the
thousands mosaics that enrich its houses and churches, especially the mosaic
that represents the oldest geographic map of the Middle East in the Greek
church of Saint George.
The Nebo
mount is one of the most venerated sacred places of Jordan, as Moses was buried
here. Form the top of the mountain you can admire the splendid view of the
whole Jordan and Dead Sea Valley, until the roofs of Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
Kerak’s
origins date back to the iron age. The crusaders made the fortress famous,
built in 1142 over the rests of small preceding cities, that date back to the
Nabatei times. The fortress has a typical crusade style with poorly enlightened
rooms with rock vaults.
Petra is
the treasure of the ancient world, declared World Heritage of UNESCO. Dug into
the rock of rose and red sandstone, it is considered the most famous and
splendid site of Jordan. It is the heritage of the Nabatei, an Arab population
that established in the south of Jordan more than 2000 years ago. You can reach
it through the Sig, a long and narrow cleft, at the end of which a natural
plaza suddenly opens, dominated by the splendid façade of “The Treasure”
(El-Khazneh), the most famous monument of Petra. The whole area boasts over 800
single monuments.
The Dead
Sea, the deepest point on Earth, at 392 m u.s.l.; as the name suggests has no
life in it because of the very high concentration of salt and minerals, but
these elements were famous for their therapeutic powers at the time of Erodes
the Great.
Aqaba is
the only access of Jordan to the sea and has the advantage to have a hot
climate during the whole year. It is touched by a sea with very limpid water
and fauna and sea flora with very colorful fish, corals and exotic sea plants.
A trip to
Wadi Rum is a trip to another world. Mountain ranges with their unique shape
raise up vertically out of the sand of the rose desert, creating a splendid
scenario.
