Old roman city Jerash

I am leaving Syria now. It is with a bit of mixed emotions never before have I gone to a country with so few expectations and been so positively surprised.

I will come back to Syria some day in the future - they should change the government and change the politics of the country - but let the people be the same and the attractions be kept for the future generations of mankind.

 

In Jordan there is a nice old Roman city waiting for me to see it. Ok maybe it is not waiting for me alone but it is there - the old city of Jerash. The city got a minor museum you can look into - but the main attraction is the buildings outside.

It may actually be better preserved and more intact than Palmyra but it lack the charm of Palmyra. It is situated right in the middle of the modern day Jerash and is fenced of from the main street - like you will expect with something this age I supposed - but after Palmyra this was a bit of a let down.

 

The city got one big amphitheatre - the Romans liked to be entertained for sure. There is also a classic column street which is two of the main features of town.

 

One very special attraction is a big temple with some very tall columns. One of these columns actually moves. Only the power of the slight breeze in town this day is enough to let it move slightly from side to side. It is not moving so much that you can see it with the naked eye.

But if you put your finger in a small opening in the column you can feel it - apparently this is not recommended behaviour during storms and earthquakes.

Below the temple their is some steps leading up to the temple - when you are at the last platform of the steps you can not se the temple it will only be visible when you start moving up the last set of steps - or at least this is the case if you got the same seize as an ancient Roman. If you on the other hand like me are a Scandinavian a bit over average height you can actually see the temple before :D :D

 

In Jerash there is a show where they give some exhibition of old chariot races or something like that. It sounds just a little bit too touristy for my taste hence I give it a miss and head towards Amman.