Jerash (Gerasa)

"Pompeii of the East" — one of the best-preserved Roman cities outside Italy. The Oval Plaza, Cardo Maximus, Temple of Artemis, and two theatres. This was a wealthy Decapolis city. The scale is breathtaking.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Stand Inside the Arch That Doomed Jerusalem History · Price: moderate

   Where: Hadrian's Triumphal Arch — the massive triple-bay gateway standing 460 meters south of the main South Gate, GPS 32.2722°N, 35.8911°E. You'll see it before you enter: 37 meters wide, 21 meters tall, one of the largest triumphal arches in the Roman Empire.

   What: In the winter of 129-130 AD, Emperor Hadrian swept through the Roman East on a grand tour. Gerasa built this arch to honor him — a gesture of wealth and loyalty from one of Rome's most prosperous provincial cities. But here's what the arch doesn't say: during this same tour, Hadrian decided to raze what remained of Jerusalem and rebuild it as 'Aelia Capitolina' — a Roman colony honoring his family name. That decision, made while he was being celebrated in places like Gerasa, ignited the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 132 AD. By 135 AD, hundreds of thousands were dead, Jews were expelled from Judaea, and the province was renamed Syria Palaestina. The arch celebrates the moment before the catastrophe.

   How: Entry fee is 12 JD (included in Jordan Pass). Site opens 7:30am, closes 7pm (Ramadan: 9am–5pm). Walk through the central arch — the largest of the three bays — and pause. Face north toward the city. Hadrian stood where you're standing. He was heading to Jerusalem next.

   Backup: If the arch is under maintenance, the context works just as powerfully from outside — the scale reads clearly from 50 meters away.

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2. 2 Find the Forum That Should Not Exist History · Price: moderate

   Where: The Oval Forum (Oval Plaza), at the southern end of the Cardo Maximus, just inside the South Gate. GPS approx 32.2752°N, 35.8893°E. You'll enter through the South Gate and the ellipse opens immediately before you.

   What: Every Roman forum in the empire was rectangular. Every single one. Rome had a template for civic space and it was a rectangle. Jerash's architects broke the rule — not from artistic whim, but from a geometric problem: the road from the South Gate and the axis of the Temple of Zeus did not align. Their solution was an oval, 90 meters long and 80 meters wide, ringed by 56 unfluted Ionic columns. The columns appear doubled because their shadows mirror them. Scholars believe this is the only elliptical colonnaded public forum ever built in the Roman world — an architectural improvisation that became the city's most iconic space. They solved a logistics problem and accidentally created something no one else had ever done.

   How: Walk the full perimeter of the colonnade. Count the columns — the 56 Ionic drums still standing were quarried locally. At midday the shadow doubling effect is most dramatic. Early morning (7:30–9am) gives you the forum almost to yourself — crowds arrive from Amman day-trip buses by 10am.

   Backup: Even if crowded, the geometry is best understood from the South Gate looking north — stand at the gateway and the full oval stretches before you.

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3. 3 Put Your Fingers in the Chariot Ruts Adventure · Free

   Where: The Cardo Maximus — the 800-meter colonnaded main street running north from the Oval Forum through the heart of the city. The ruts are most visible in the southern third, between the Forum and the tetrapylon crossroads. GPS 32.2772°N, 35.8901°E.

   What: The original Roman paving stones have not been replaced. What you're walking on is the actual 1st–2nd century surface — 40-50cm thick limestone slabs placed diagonally to reduce friction for cart wheels. The grooves worn into these stones by 200 years of chariot and cart traffic are still 2-3cm deep. No reproduction. No excavation reconstruction. The stone is the same stone a merchant's axle grooved 1,900 years ago. Kneel down and put your fingers in the ruts. This is what Roman daily life feels like — not through glass, not in a museum, not behind rope.

   How: Walk the full 800 meters north. The manhole covers (original Roman drainage access) are also still in situ — you can lift the edge of one and see the ancient drainage channel below. The columns lining both sides are mostly 1960s reassemblies from original stone. The street originally had 500+ columns on each side — the spacing and scale still reads as overwhelming, which was entirely the point: Rome wanted you to feel small.

   Backup: The street is fully open, no restriction. If it's raining, the flagstone surface becomes slippery — this is exactly what Roman pedestrians dealt with. The ruts are most legible in dry conditions with raking light (early morning or late afternoon).

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4. 4 Watch the Roman Columns Breathe History · Price: moderate

   Where: Temple of Artemis, on the upper western terrace — the highest point of the ancient city. GPS 32.2819°N, 35.8911°E. Walk north along the Cardo from the tetrapylon, take the processional stairway west up the hill. 11 of 12 original Corinthian columns are still standing.

   What: These columns should not still be standing. In 749 AD, a catastrophic earthquake destroyed most of Jerash — the event that effectively ended the city as a functioning settlement. Yet 11 of the 12 Artemis columns survived. The reason: the architects of the 2nd century AD designed the columns to MOVE. The individual stone drums stacked to form each column are not rigidly mortared — they're slightly conical, tapering toward the top, and deliberately loosely joined. In an earthquake, the column sways and absorbs the shock rather than shattering. Stand close to a column on a breezy day. Watch the capital at the top. You'll see it rock — barely, maybe 2-3 millimeters — but visibly. The column is breathing. It has been breathing for 1,900 years.

   How: Visit in any wind at all — even light breezes (10+ km/h) are enough to see the motion. Your guide or a guard can demonstrate more dramatically by inserting a thin stick between drum joints — watch the gap open and close as the column rocks. This is also the best elevated view over the entire ancient city.

   Backup: Even in still air, the uneven alignment of drum joints visible on every column reveals the design — you can see the deliberate slight misalignment that allows movement.

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5. 5 Taste the Wine Growing Above the Roman City Wine · Price: low

   Where: Jordan Wine House, Ajloun — 21km (30 minutes drive) west of Jerash through pine forests and hill country, overlooking Ajloun Castle and the cable car. GPS approx 32.3327°N, 35.7518°E. Book at jordanwinehouse.viaviiplus.com — ~$16 per person. Alternatively, look for Saint George wine (Zumot Winery) at the Artemis Restaurant near the Jerash ruins or any Amman restaurant on the same day.

   What: Jordan has exactly two serious wine producers. Both are run by Christian families — the Zumots and the Haddads — in a Muslim-majority kingdom where alcohol is legal but culturally marginal. The Zumot family's Saint George wines are made partly from grapes grown at 1,150 meters in the hills of Jerash — the area called Souf, 7 hectares of organically certified Merlot and Syrah, dry farmed in the mountains you just walked through. When you taste it, you're tasting the terroir of the Decapolis. At Jordan Wine House in Ajloun, the view takes in Ajloun Castle — a 12th-century Arab fortress built, in part, to resist the Crusaders who were partly motivated by recovering Christian holy sites in this exact region. Wine, history, and the long arc of who controls this land — it's all in the same glass.

   How: Jerash Festival season (late July–early August): Some festival venues serve wine. Year-round: Jordan Wine House in Ajloun is the closest tasting experience — traditional food, views, local production. Saint George wines (the Winemaker's Selection using Jerash Souf grapes) are available at better Amman restaurants if you're heading back through the capital.

   Backup: Saint George wines are sold in most Amman supermarkets and hotel bars. If day-tripping from Amman, buy a bottle before departing and bring it to your Jerash picnic — the site has shaded areas near the North Theatre perfect for a late-afternoon break.

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