JORDAN ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE

Jordan is rich in history, it is located in the area of the cradle of civilization. And everyone knows that where there is civilization there is great architecture. Where tourism is scarce, there are great surprises. Let's go together to discover this land!

We start from Jerash, an ancient city located in the north of the country. The history of the city is a blend of the Greek and Roman world of the Mediterranean Basin and the ancient traditions of the Arab Orient. The city flourished until the mid-eighth century, and although in 749 there was a terrible earthquake it is still surprisingly well preserved. The city is a succession of houses, temples, squares, tethers and colonnades.

We continue with the ancient Castle of Kerak, located further south.

It is one of the largest crusader castles in the Levant. Construction of the castle began in the 1140s, under Pagans. The Crusaders called it Crac des Moabites or "Karak in Moab”.

The castle is a notable example of Crusader architecture, a mixture of west European, Byzantine, and Arab designs. Its walls are strengthened with rectangular projecting towers and long stone vaulted galleries are lighted only by arrow slits. The castle has a deep moat that isolated it from the rest of the hill on the West. Such a moat is a typical feature of spur castles. While Kerak Castle is a large and strong castle, its design is less sophisticated than other Crusader’s Castles.

And finally we conclude with Petra, the jewel of Jordan, part of the 7 wonders of the modern world. Inhabited since prehistoric times, this Nabataean caravan-city, situated between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, was an important crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria. Petra is carved into the rocks, and is surrounded by mountains riddled with passages and gorges. It is one of the world's most famous archaeological sites, where ancient Eastern traditions blend with Hellenistic architecture.

The outstanding Universal value of Petra resides in the vast extent of elaborate tomb and temple architecture; religious high places; the remnant channels, tunnels and diversion dams that combined with a vast network of cisterns and reservoirs which controlled and conserved seasonal rains, and the extensive archaeological remains including of copper mining, temples, churches and other public buildings.

The fusion of Hellenistic architectural facades with traditional Nabataean one and it represents a unique artistic achievement and an outstanding architectural ensemble of the first centuries BC to AD. The varied archaeological remains and architectural monuments from prehistoric times to the medieval periods bear exceptional testimony to the now lost civilisations which succeeded each other at the site.