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Jordan,
North of Amman
North of Amman: -
Jerash: is less than one hour's drive from Amman through the picturesque hills of ancient Gilead. A magnificent Graeco-Roman city on an ancient site, beautifully preserved by the desert sands, Jerash is justly famous for the Triumphal Arch, the Hippodrome, the great elliptical forum, the theatres, baths and gateways, the Roman bridge and the wide street of columns which leads to the Temple of Artemis.
Son et lumière programmes run in four different languages (French, English, German and Arabic). Other languages can be catered for upon request. For information on festivals in Jerash, see Special Events in the Social Profile section.
Irbid: , which is 77km (49 miles) from Amman, is a city of Roman tombs and statues, and narrow streets with close-packed shops and arched entrances. Umm Qais in the far north of the country, the Biblical 'Gadara', dominates the area round Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee). Once a city favoured by the Romans for its hot springs and theatres, it had declined to a small village by the time of the Islamic conquests. Its ruins, however, are still impressive: the Acropolis built in 218BC, the forum, the colonnaded street with still-visible chariot tracks and the Nymphaeum and remains of a large basilica. Returning along the northwest border from Umm Qais to Jerash through the lush scenery of the Jordan River Valley, one can visit the town of Al
Hammeh, in sight of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a town known for its hot springs and mineral waters; and Pella, once a city of the Roman Decapolis, now being excavated, and the hilltop castle of Qalaat al-Rabadh built by the Arabs in defence against the crusaders. The scenery in this surprisingly fertile part of Jordan is often very beautiful, especially in the spring when the Jordan Valley and surrounding area is covered in flowers.
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