Jerash is an ancient city in northern Jordan whose Roman remains are among the most complete of any provincial city in the eastern Mediterranean. It lies about 50 kilometres north of Amman, roughly an hour's drive, which makes it the standard day trip from the capital and the most visited site in the north.
The site
The city was laid out on the Roman plan and much of that plan survives: a colonnaded main street — the cardo — running the length of the site with its paving, drains and column bases intact; two theatres cut into the hillside; the Oval Plaza, an unusual colonnaded forum; Hadrian's Arch; and two major temples, the Temple of Artemis and the Temple of Zeus. Two bath complexes, several churches with mosaic floors from the Byzantine period, and the city walls complete the picture.
Jerash is distinctive among Roman sites in the region for the extent to which the urban fabric survives, rather than for any single building. Because the site is on open ground rather than buried under a modern city, the street plan can be read as a whole.
Visiting
The site is entered from a visitor centre with parking, cafés and a small museum, and a circuit of the principal monuments takes two to three hours at an unhurried pace; the ground is largely open and exposed, so a hat and water are needed in warm months. Some sections involve steps and uneven paving.
The Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts, held in the summer, stages performances in the theatres and the Oval Plaza, and the site is occasionally closed for the event or for filming. A Roman army and chariot re-enactment takes place on a fixed schedule in the hippodrome area.
Combining it
Jerash combines in one day with Ajloun, whose Ayyubid castle sits on a hill about 25 kilometres further north, and with Umm Qais at the north-western corner of the country, which has Roman remains and a view across the Golan and the Sea of Galilee. A half-day is enough for Jerash alone, and it fits comfortably on the way north or as a day trip from Amman.