AMMAN … the dynamic Capital City

 Amman is the modern and ancient capital of Jordan, formerly the Ammonite capital city of Rabbath-Ammon, and later the Graeco-Roman city called Philadelphia. Originally spread over seven hills like Rome,

Amman now covers at least nine-teen hills. It is a city of contrasts, a mixture of ancient and modern.

Often referred to as “the white city,” Amman’s houses are built on many hillsides, and form a great canvas of overlapping beiges, ochres and whites. The outstanding whiteness is the result of the white stones of the country used in construction ---rough hewn, smooth or lightly veined, and even polished white marble.

JERASH … the grandeur of Imperial Rome

Only a short hour’s drive north of Amman is the Graeco-Roman city of Jerash (Gerasa in ancient times), known as the Pompeii of the East for its extraordinary state of preservation. As they approach the city, visitors are greeted by the imposing triple arched gateway built to honor the Emperor Hadrian’s arrival at Jerash in A.D. 129.

Jerash is considered the best preserved and most complete city of the Decapolis, a confederation of ten Roman cities dating from the 1st Century B.C.

PETRA…the spectacular rose-red city

The most famous attraction in Jordan is the Nabataean city of Petra, some 262 kilometers of 160 miles south of Amman.  The Victorian traveler and poet, Dean Burgon, gave Petra a description which holds to this day---“Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose-red city half as old as time.”

More than 2.000 years ago Petra was used as a temporary refuge by nomadic Nabataean Arabs, Bedouins who came north out of Arabia.  From a few caves in a rocky outcrop, easy to defend, the Nabataeans created Petra as a fortress city.

WADI RUM… where you will find adventure

Feet the romance of the Arabian desert in the spring-time…or anytime, at Wdi Rum in Jordan. Let the fabled T.E. Lawrene come alive, whether through memories stirred from the screen version or from the pages of history and the actual exploits of the legendary British officer.

Wadi Rum is like a moon-scape of ancient valleys and towering weathered sandstone mountains rising out of the white and pink colored sands.  Much of David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” was filmed there and it was also the location where T.E. Lawrence himself was based during the Arab Revolt.

 
AQABA… Jordan’s year-round Red Sea resort

When fantasy, sun and sea meet the charms and atmosphere of antiquity, the visitor can find himself, at any time of the year, at any time of the year, at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba. For water sports and winter warmth, Aqaba is warm, sunny and inviting, fringed with palm trees, lapped by the crystal clear waters of the Gulf of Aqaba, cooled by a steady northerly breeze, and ringed by mountains that change in color with the change of the hours.

THE DEAD SEA… the lowest point on earth

The sunset touching distant hills with ribbons of fire across the waters of the Dead Sea brings a sense of unreality to culminate a day’s visit to the lowest point on earth, some 400 meters below sea level.

To reach this unique spot the visitor enjoys a short, 55 kilometer drive from Amman, surrounded by a landscape which could be from another planet.

En route a stone marker indicates “Sea Level”, but the Dead Sea itself is not reached before descending another 400meters below this sign.

As the name suggests, the sea is devoid of life due to an extremely high content of salts and minerals.  But it is these natural elements which give the waters their curative powers, recognized since the days of Herod the Great, more than 2.000 years ago. 

                       All Information is Taken from Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.