Amman, Jordan

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Highlights of Amman



Day 1

We start our tour today. After arriving last night we will be joined by the others today. There are 15 of us with another 4 joining in Egypt. Our guide is Mohammed.We set out for a tour of the city starting with a visit to the Royal Automobile Museum. A collection of cars and bikes, some used for special occasions by the Royal Family. Amazing collection. The vehicle used in the Martian movie was at the front. The movie was filmed at Wadi Rum Which we will visit in a few days. We then visited the Roman settlement where there is a huge theatre, mosaic floors , colonnaded streets. We also saw a Jordanian pipe band. Same sound as a Scottish one although it was a strange sound to hear in a Roman ruin in Jordan.

Day 2

Next day we drove to the Roman site of Umm Quais, the ancient Greco-Roman City of Gadara. It is the only Roman site with a theatre that faces East-West. There was a very long colonnaded road. We saw plantings of the acanthus plant which is the basis for the design of Corinthian columns. Great views to the Golan Heights. We are constantly amazed at our proximity to other countries.

Our next stop was the impressive Ajloun Castle, a citadel built in 1184 by the Muslims. It towers over the city and was strategically built in a position of control with views of the Jordan Valley and Palestine. Unusually there is a chapel inside.

After lunch we visited Jerash another huge Roman settlement dating back to 3200 BC. It is one of the best preserved Greco-Roman cities in the world today. The ancient city was buried in sand before being gradually revealed through a series of excavations, starting in 1925 and continuing today. We could have spent a day there. It was damaged by the 746 earthquake as were many places in Jordan. The forum is unique as it is oval shaped.



Day 3

Madaba Greek Orthodox Church - this Byzantine Church has the oldest map depiction of the Holy Land.542-570. The mosaic was discovered in 1784

and Mt Nebo, 710 metres above sea level. It was mentioned in the bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land. Moses is buried here (?). Inside the church there are some great mosaics from earlier churches 6-8th Century BC. which the new church has been built around. - a 1933 church and monastery was discovered . On a clear day you can see Jerusalem and Jericho

Tomorrow Wadi Rum

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