Asia

[Visited: September 2002]

Close to downtown Amman, you can find traces of ancient cultures. All you have to do, is to walk up the narrow streets from the city centre, up to the Citadel that you see towering above the city. From below, you don't really see what's on top: that's a secret that is only revealed when you actually reach the Citadel.
On this high location, you can find traces of Byzantine culture, the Umayyads left their footsteps, and you can also still see a Roman temple. I was here in September, the weather was perfect and the temperature just right (although the newspapers called it "cool"). I entered through the backdoor, and arrived directly at the enormous cistern, a water tank which has been restored. From here, it is a short walk to the baths.
Behind, the apparently only remains of an Umayyad city within an existing city have been discovered, and reconstruction work is still going on. What used to be the remains of one of the typical Umayyad palaces, has been covered by a dome. From here, I walked across the old souq, and stumbled upon the remains of a Byzantine church. Behind, I could already see a few standing columns of the Roman temple dedicated to Hercules. From here, you also have a nice view on the city and the Roman amphiteatre down below.

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Amman citadel (Jordan). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Amman citadel.
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