Archives: Locations

Site of the famous miracle of the Gadarene swine, Gadara was renowned in its time as a cultural center. It was the home of several classical poets and philosophers, including Theodor’s, founder of a rhetorical school in Rome, and was once called “a new Athens” by a poet.

The Nabataeans were people of surprises. They built the northern city of Umm al-Jimal. Using the local rough black basalt instead of the soft rose sandstone of Wadi Musa, they created an eerie black city whose name, “Mother of Camels.

Umm Al-Rasas(also spelled Umm ar-Rasas and Um er-Rasas) is an important archaeological site that was declared a World Heritage Site in 2004. Its structures date from the 3rd to 9th centuries and most have not yet been excavated

THE UMAYYAD PALACE IS LOCATED inside what is known as theCitadel. Locals refer to it as Jabal al-Qal’a, as the site is located on one of Amman’s many hills (jabals in Arabic). Most of the directions in Amman will reference one of the hills in the city.

Part of the great beacon chain of Crusader fortresses, Shobak Castle is by far the most lonely. Built in 1115 AD by Baldwin I, who later built Karak, it was originally known as Mont Realis (Montreal) and was the first outpost of the kingdom of Jerusalem in the Crusader district of Outre Jordan.

Al Kharaneh or Al Hraneh, is one of the best-known of the desert castles located in present-day eastern Jordan, about east of Amman and relatively close to the border with Saudi Arabia. It is believed to have been built sometime before the early 8th century AD.

Standing in the Jordanian Desert some 50 miles east of Amman, Qasr Amra is one of several qusur or “desert castles” built under the Umayyad Caliphate and probably the best known extant example of these buildings characteristic of the Damascus-based dynasty.

The city of Petra, capital of the Nabataean Arabs, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, it is Located 240 km south of the capital Amman and 120 km north of the red sea town of Aqaba, Petra the world wonder, is undoubtedly Jordan’s most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction, and it is visited by tourists from all over the world.

Mujib Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 212 km2. Bordering the Dead Sea at 402 meters below sea level, the Mujib Biosphere Reserve surrounds Wadi Mujib, a deep and majestic canyon that cuts through the rugged highlands and drains into the Dead Sea.

“Sacred site” Mount Nebo is most known for being the site where Moses overlooked the Holy Land, but did not enter it and where a church and a monastery were built to honor him. The book of Numbers (33:47) mentions that when the children of Israel moved from Almon Diblathaim they camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo, and that the children of Reuben rebuilt the city (Numbers 32:38).