Madaba Mosaics

The 6th-century mosaic map of the Holy Land in St. George's Church is the oldest surviving cartographic depiction of the region. Madaba is the "City of Mosaics" — Roman and Byzantine floors throughout the town.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Stand on the Map That Proved Jerusalem History · Price: low

   The oldest surviving cartographic depiction of the Holy Land — a floor mosaic completed between 542 and 570 AD. It was buried under rubble for over 1,000 years after the 746 earthquake flattened Madaba, and rediscovered only in 1884 during church construction.

   Where: St. George's Greek Orthodox Church, just off King Talal Street in the centre of Madaba. Entry 1 JD (~$1.40); open Sat–Thu 8am–6pm in summer, 8am–5pm in winter.

   What: Under your feet — if you are allowed to crouch and really look — is a 6th-century Byzantine mosaic that still functions as a working map. It was made between 542 and 570 AD by anonymous craftsmen using 2+ million stone pegs driven more than 5cm into the earth. In 1967, archaeologists excavating the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem used the map to find the Cardo Maximus — the Roman main street — and discovered it exactly where the mosaic placed it 1,400 years earlier. In 2010, another road the map depicted was dug up in Jerusalem exactly on cue. A floor drawing in Jordan corrected 20th-century archaeology.

   How: Enter and immediately orient yourself: the map faces EAST (toward the altar), not north like modern maps. The Mediterranean Sea is at your bottom, the Dead Sea in the middle, and Jerusalem is the largest single feature — rendered with 19 towers, 6 city gates, 3 main streets, and 11 churches in the 16 x 5 metre fragment that survived a 1,000-year burial. Find the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — that colonnaded red-roofed building rendered 'upside down' (it appears inverted because the map's perspective is bird's-eye, not elevation). What you are looking at is the only surviving artistic depiction of Constantine's original 4th-century church as it was actually built. Look for the Cardo Maximus (the colonnaded street flanked by columns) — the same feature archaeologists went looking for in Jerusalem on the basis of this map. Ask the guard for the laminated reference guide that labels the major cities.

   Backup: If crowded, come at 8am on a weekday — it gets quiet before the tour groups arrive around 10am. Friday and Sunday mornings, Mass is at 7am (visitors welcome but map viewing not permitted during service).

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2. 2 Read the Mythology Buried Under a Byzantine Church History · Free

   Where: Madaba Archaeological Park, entrance from Abu Bakr As-Siddiq Street, a few metres from the Madaba Visitors Centre. Entry JD 3 (tourists), covered by Jordan Pass; open 8am–6:30pm summer, 8am–4pm winter.

   What: The Hippolytus Hall mosaic was split in half by 1,400 years of bad luck. A homeowner named Sulayman Sunna found the western section in 1905 while digging. The eastern section wasn't found until 1982 — it had been buried under the floor of a Byzantine church built on top of the original Roman mansion. Together the two halves form a 6th-century Roman dining room floor depicting the Greek tragedy of Phaedra and Hippolytus — Aphrodite threatening the young Eros with her sandal, the four Seasons personified in corner scrolls, and the doomed lovers themselves. This is a Roman dining room floor. Dinner party guests ate above this in 540 AD.

   How: The mosaic is in the lower section of Archaeological Park 1. Walk from the entrance along the preserved Roman colonnaded road — this is part of the original Via Traiana Nova that Trajan completed in 111 AD, the same road that made Madaba a provincial Roman town. At the Hippolytus Hall, find Aphrodite first — she's in the upper panel, seated next to Adonis, mid-sandal-swing. Then find the nurses presenting Phaedra's love letter to Hippolytus. The captions naming characters are still legible in Greek. This was not a temple mosaic or a public monument — this was someone's floor for entertaining guests.

   Backup: If the hall is under conservation, the Church of the Apostles is 400m away (ask at the visitors centre). Its mosaic features Thalassa — the personification of the Sea — rising from the water surrounded by marine creatures, completed by a mosaicist who signed his own name: Salamanios.

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3. 3 Press Stone Into the World's Oldest Living Craft Tradition Adventure · Price: low

   Madaba has 150 mosaic workshops and was designated a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts in 2017 — the living tradition that runs unbroken from the Byzantine mosaicists who built the map in 542 AD.

   Where: Arabella Workshop for Mosaics, Al-Amir Hasan Street, Madaba. Call or WhatsApp: +962 7 9503 8895. Walk-ins often accepted; 1-hour starter sessions and 2-hour coaster workshops available.

   What: Madaba has 150 mosaic workshops and 800 people employed in the craft — more mosaics are produced here per square kilometer than anywhere else on earth. In 2017, UNESCO designated Madaba a Creative City of Crafts specifically because of mosaics. The same technique used to build the 542 AD map in St. George's Church — stone tesserae pegs hammered into mortar — is what you are doing in this workshop. Not a simulation. The craft itself.

   How: Choose the 2-hour workshop to make your own mosaic coaster. The instructor walks you through selecting tesserae (limestone, marble, coloured glass), cutting to shape, and laying pattern in mortar. The technique is identical to 6th-century Byzantine methods. You can also ask to see the larger restoration work in progress — Arabella takes commissions from hotels and restoration projects, and there may be something significant being rebuilt when you visit. The workshop also sells ceramics and olive wood work if time is short.

   Backup: If Arabella is closed or full, the MIMAR Institute (Madaba Institute for Mosaic Art and Restoration) is inside the Archaeological Park compound — call ahead to the Madaba Visitors Centre at +962 5 325 3097 to arrange a workshop visit. MIMAR is the only institute in the Middle East that teaches professional mosaic conservation — you may be watching the person who will one day restore a 1,500-year-old church floor.

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4. 4 Drink the Wine Named After the Church You Just Stood In Wine · Price: moderate

   The Zumot family planted Jordan's first modern vineyard here in Madaba in 1996 and named their wine label Saint George after the church that houses the mosaic map — the same church you will have visited hours before sitting down to this glass.

   Where: Haret Jdoudna restaurant, Adel Jumean Street, Madaba 17110. Open daily 1pm–11pm. Phone: +962 5 324 8650. Set in a 19th-century Ottoman house once occupied by the city's mayor — look for the carved stone doorway on the street.

   What: Saint George wine is made by the Zumot family, Jordan's oldest winery (founded 1954). In 1996, Omar Zumot planted the first vineyard — 8 hectares — here in Madaba, a few minutes' walk from St. George's Church. He named the entire wine brand after that church. You just stood above the mosaic map inside that church. Now you are drinking the wine that took its name from it. The Shiraz from those Madaba vines has been described as 'more of a French Syrah than an Australian' — violet, crushed raspberry, smoky and mineral, because the soil here is clay and basalt, 800 metres above sea level on a limestone plateau with desert wind desiccating the grapes from the east.

   How: Ask specifically for Saint George wine — the restaurant stocks both the Shiraz and the Cabernet Sauvignon from Madaba vineyards. The Shiraz is the more distinctive bottle; tell the waiter you want the one from Madaba. Order it with the mezze — particularly the kofte in tahini sauce (Fokar & Bhar style, or Haret Jdoudna's own version), which pairs brilliantly with the wine's spice notes. The restaurant also stocks 'Mount Nebo' white wine (JD18). If you want to understand what Jordan's grapes taste like without the Roman frame, order both and compare. Sit in the courtyard under the old trees if it's evening.

   Backup: If Haret Jdoudna is fully booked, Saint George wine is served at most restaurants in Madaba — ask for it by name. Jaw Zaman Restaurant & Cafe (another heritage house, 20th century) also serves local wine on an outdoor terrace with views.

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5. 5 Watch Jerusalem and Jericho from Where Moses Watched Adventure · Price: low · Optional

   Where: Mount Nebo, 10 km west of Madaba — a 15-minute drive on Route 35. Entry approximately JD1-2. Open daily; best in early morning or late afternoon for clear skies.

   What: The mosaic map inside St. George's Church depicts this mountain. Moses stood here and was shown the Promised Land before his death — Jerusalem, Jericho, the Jordan River — and then was buried here, though the tomb has never been found. At 800 metres above sea level, the plateau drops away to the Jordan Valley 1,200 metres below. On a clear day you can see Jerusalem 46 km to the west across the Dead Sea. The viewing platform was built for Pope John Paul II's visit in 2000 — the large Serpentine Cross is a modern artwork combining the bronze serpent of Moses with the cross of Christ.

   How: Drive west from Madaba on Route 35. From the viewing platform, orient yourself using what you learned from the mosaic map: the Dead Sea is directly below, the Jordan River valley beyond it, the hills of the West Bank on the far side. Jerusalem is the set of hills on the horizon — on a clear day it is genuinely visible. The Church of Moses on the summit contains its own Byzantine mosaics (6th century), including scenes of hunting, herding, and rural life — a pastoral counterpart to Madaba's urban map. Bring water; the plateau can be very warm even in spring.

   Backup: If the weather is hazy (common in summer), the drive itself along the King's Highway is worthwhile — olive groves, ancient terracing, and the descent into the rift valley. The mosaic floors inside the church are worth seeing in any weather.

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