The Dubai of its day, this ancient mini-Rome flies under the tourist radar

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Seven wonders within Jerash, Jordan

One of the world’s most impressive archaeological sites, Jerash is a mini Rome that preserves a classical city layout.

1 Make a grand entry beneath Hadrian’s Arch

Jerash was the brash Dubai of its day, and is filled with statues and structures donated by wealthy inhabitants. The social highlight was Emperor Hadrian’s visit in 129; he lingered for nearly a year. Arrive via the southern ticket office, and the triumphal arch erected in his honour is a great spot to make an entrance. The arch is heavy and ungraceful, but has an insolent presence, and expertly frames the pompous splendour of Jerash beyond.

2 Take a seat in the South Theatre

The restored 1st-century South Theatre is still used today.

Archaeologists from Melbourne University are among those who have restored this first-century theatre. The plain exterior is misleading, and many walk past. But head through the arches to find a lavishly decorated stage, superbly preserved seating and outstanding acoustics that amplify your voice. The 5000-seat theatre has inscriptions around its walls that record the wealthy Jerash citizens who contributed to the construction costs. It still holds events during the Jerash Festival in late July and early August.

3 Be sure to grasp the big picture

The Colonnaded Street (also known as the Cardo).

Nowhere better preserves the classic layout of a Roman town, so don’t be so distracted by individual monuments that you miss the superb planning. Main artery the Cardo – rutted by chariot wheels – runs 800 metres and is lined by battered, truncated but still glorious columns. It leads to an elegant forum and is bisected by two other streets that connect temples, theatres, marketplaces, bathhouses and gateways. A lookout point near South Theatre shows off Jerash’s size and urban organisation.

4 Admire one of the greatest spaces in all antiquity

Jerash’s forum is oval shaped, although most Roman forums were rectangular, and it seems to anachronistically echo the Renaissance-era piazza fronting St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. More than 90 metres long, the forum is embraced in a curve of pillars that throw changing shadows over patterned flagstones that radiate out from the centre. Through the pillars, you get views to ancient Jerash in one direction and the whitewashed hillside houses of the modern town in the other.

5 Pay your respects to Zeus, twice over

The Temple of Zeus sits on a small hill and, despite its dilapidation, still projects an impression of size, power and importance. Its building blocks look as if they were carved by giants, while fallen friezes are delicately carved with geometric patterns and flowers. Meanwhile, in the Upper Temple of Zeus only some columns remain, but at 15 metres high they’re wonderfully impressive. Many more lie tumbled below like an outsized Jenga set on which lizards sun themselves.

6 Provide a small donation and see pillars shake

Temple of Artemis’ ornate pillars glow in sunlight.

The Temple of Artemis has 11 surviving pillars, each elaborately carved from beautiful golden stone that glows under the sunlight. Guides like to insert coins into fissures in the column’s stonework; their perturbing vibration suggests the columns are trembling too, even though they’ve stood there for 19 centuries. Is this a trick of a Jordanian guide, or a clever Roman architect? You’ll be half doubtful, half delighted: something else in Jerash to amaze you.

7 Linger until late afternoon

Time your visit so you’re still here when the sun is low and tour coaches have departed. As sheep’s bells tinkle from surrounding hillsides, you might have the ruins to yourself but for prowling cats. The last of the souvenir sellers doze among fallen pillars. The late sun turns Jerash’s stonework to gold. You’ll get a fine and peaceful impression of the beauty, yet total abandonment, of this ancient city.

See visitjordan.com

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