2025 Bani Kinanah Department Travel Guide: Must-see attractions, popular food, hotels, transportation routes (updated in March)

During my summer trip to Jordan, I had the unforgettable experience of visiting Umm Qays, one of the most breathtaking ancient sites in the country and the Middle East 🌍. The ruins of this Roman city are so well-preserved, with hardly any tourists around, making it feel like a hidden gem 💎. The site is mostly unexcavated, allowing you to explore freely and stumble upon treasures like mosaic floors and relics scattered throughout the area 🏺. It's fascinating to think about what’s still waiting to be uncovered! The views from the site are just as spectacular, offering panoramic vistas of the valley below and even the Sea of Galilee 🌊, where, according to legend, Jesus walked on water. The entry fee is super affordable (a few dollars), and the best part? You can enjoy a delicious meal or coffee at the café located on the hilltop museum, all while taking in the stunning views of the surrounding landscape 🍽️☕. It's an amazing, peaceful place to visit if you're ever in Jordan! Highly recommend it 👌. #celebrateit

Umm Qais, also known as Gadara, is an ancient city in northern Jordan that contains ruins from the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. The site is located on a ridge 378 metres above sea level, overlooking the Sea of Tiberias, the Golan Heights, and the Yarmouk River gorge. Umm Qais is divided into three main areas: the archaeological site (Gadara), the traditional village (Umm Qais), and the modern town of Umm Qais. The oldest archaeological evidence at Umm Qais extends back to the second half of the third century BCE, and the site appears to have been founded as a military colony by Alexander the Great's Macedonian Greeks. Gadara was a centre of Greek culture in the region during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The city was strategically important and was repeatedly the focus of military conquests throughout the succession of Syrian Wars between 274 - 188 BCE. #dreamvoyage

#2024wish #historicallandmarks

The Roman Western Theatre of Umm Qais #staycation is found on the western slope of the city's acropolis. Seated up to 3,000 people and was central to the artistic and cultural life of the ancient city, before being adapted and used for other purposes later. #artyinjordan🇯🇴

#decumanusmaximus 🏛️ Around the mid-1st century AD, a first section of the Decumanus Maximus was paved with basalt slabs. The rectangular slabs are laid at an angle in order to prevent the joints from being broadened by the wheels of carts. Only in front of iconic buildings do they lie parallel to the roadside for a short distance. The busy traffic left visible traces in the pavement (see photo above). During the Severan period (193 - 235), the Decumanus Maximus was greatly enhanced and prolonged into the city areas which had continued growing westwards. Estrades with numerous statues of honour, colonnades and porticoes as well as other monuments of urban representation were built on both sides. It is assumed that the colonnaded street fulfilled the function of a linear forum for which in other cities extensive squares were usually laid out. A pressure pipeline constructed of large basalt blocks runs about 1.5 m below the pavement. Smaller clay or lead pipe systems were only installed in Byzantine times under the sidewalk at the height of the row of shops or at the older arch monument. #artyinjordan🇯🇴