Jerash and Ajloun

This weekend we explored a few towns in the northern part of the country called Jerash and Ajloun. Jerash is said to be one of the best preserved Roman cities, and it was one of the cities in the Decapolis. This city is so old, excavations show it was inhabited as early as 3200 BC. It was an important place during the Roman empire, the ruins of this city are still impressive today. The 'new city' sits along the hills of the ancient ruins, it's pretty remarkable to see.  This is Hadrian's Arch, the entrance to the old city. The arch was built in 129 AD, to honor Emperor Hadrian's visit to this area.

After a short walk, you come across the Oval Plaza, which was the main gathering place. The columns were so impressive, not to mention weighing around a ton each!

In the middle of the plaza there was the entry to the Colonaded Street.

And lots of different ruins along the way. I lost track of what most of them were.

The attention to detail is incredible.

Then we climbed some stairs to see more ruins.

Temple of Zeus.

View of the Oval Plaza from a hilltop.

View of the ancient city.

Old and new city.

Next we stopped at the ampitheater and all climbed to the top. There were men playing bagpipes and drums. Ironically, between some traditional music, they were playing Yankee Doodle and some church hymns.

View of the Oval Plaza from the top of the ampitheater.

We had a fun day hiking around and exploring the city. Afterwards, we ate some lunch and headed to Ajloun, which was about an hour drive through the mountains. Ajloun Castle is a Muslim castle from the 12th century. The castle was named after a Christian monk who lived on the mountain during the Byzantine Period. 

Entering the castle...let the dragon hunt begin!

The boys checking out the sewers and dragon dungeons.

On their thrones.

We made it to the top, the views were amazing!

Thankful for this fun weekend to explore!