Amman

Amman


Amman, the capital of Jordan, is a fascinating city of contrasts – a unique blend of old and new, ideally situated on a hilly area between the desert and the fertile Jordan Valley. 

In the commercial heart of the city, ultra-modern buildings, hotels, smart restaurants, art galleries and boutiques rub shoulders comfortably with traditional coffee shops and tiny artisans' workshops. Everywhere there is evidence of the city's much older past.

Due to the city's modern-day prosperity and temperate climate, almost half of Jordan's population is concentrated in the Amman area. The residential suburbs consist of mainly tree-lined streets and avenues flanked by elegant, almost uniformly white houses in accordance with a municipal law, which states that all buildings must be faced with local stone. 

The downtown area is much older and more traditional with smaller businesses producing and selling everything from fabulous jewellery to everyday household items.

The people of Amman are multi-cultural, multi-denominational, well-educated and extremely hospitable. They welcome visitors and take pride in showing them around their fascinating and vibrant city.

Amman Citadel
The Citadel of Amman is a good place to begin a tour of the archaeological sites of the city. It is the site of ancient Rabbath-Ammon and excavations there have revealed numerous Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic remains. Located on a hill, it not only gives visitors a perspective of the city’s incredible history but also provides stunning views of the entire area. Among the most wonderful places you can visit while in Amman, there are some places of specific interest at the Amman Citadel include: 

1- The Umayyad Palace complex, dating from 720-750 AD. The great monumental gateway with its cruciform shape and four vaulted niches leads to a courtyard and colonnaded street, which runs through the complex with ruined buildings on either side.

 2- The Temple of Hercules, built during the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD).

Jordan Folklore Museum
The Jordan Folklore Museum is located within the western section of the Roman Theatre in Amman. This folklore museum was founded by the Department of Antiquities in Jordan and officially opened in 1975. The museum houses items representing the following Jordanian cultures: 
The culture of the desert (Bedu).
The culture of the villages (Reef).
The culture of the towns and cities (Madinah). 
The collection of the museum represents items that were used in the daily life from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such as:
1. Costumes of the various areas in Jordan.
2. Utensils used for food preparation, making bread, coffee, and tea.
Opening Hours : 08:00- 18:00, on Friday 09:00 – 16:00, no closing days.

Amman Museum
The Jordanian Archaeological Museum contains a substantial collection of artifacts from the Paleaolithic Period onwards. Four exhibits claim special interest. First are the two wax-like figures discovered at Ain Ghazzal in 1983, which date back to the early Neolithic period (8000-6000 BC). The second, and perhaps most famous exhibit, is the collection of The Dead Sea Scrolls, which are contained in a small alcove at the right end of the museum.

An alcove on the opposite side of the room holds four anthropomorphic coffins, discovered in the grounds of the Raghadan Palace, which are rare examples of burials practised between the 13th and 7th centuries BC. Just across from the coffins is the ‘Amman Daedalus’, a Roman copy of the Hellenistic original. (According to Greek mythology, Daedalus built the famous Minoan Labyrinth in Crete. He is also known for making wings to enable him and his son Icarus, to escape the island.)

Amman Roman Theater
The restored Roman Theatre dates back to the 2nd century AD. Built into three sides of the hillside, it seats around 6000 people and is still used for performances today. The highest section of seats in a theatre was (and still is) called "The Gods". Although far from the stage, even there the sightlines are excellent, and the actors could be clearly heard, owing to the steepness of the cavea.