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A wondrous fusion of the past and the present, an
astounding blend of the ancient and the modern, a place
where you can feel at home. Amman, the capital of the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, welcomes its visitors with
arms wide open through the warm hospitality of its
humble people and the charm of its hills, stone houses,
and old streets merged with the traditional sense of the
vestige of its ancient civilization.
Built on seven hills, or "Jebels", each of which more or
less defines a neighborhood, Amman, which is previously
known as Rabbath-Ammon during the Iron Age and later as
Philadelphia, is the ancient city that was once part of
the Decapolis league and that now boasts a population of
around 1.5 million.
Often referred to as the white city due to its low size
canvas of stone houses, Amman offers a variety of
historical sites. Towering above Amman and down to its
Roman theatre, the Citedal, like many other locations,
holds the earliest fortifications subject to numerous
excavations which have revealed remains from the
Neolithic period as well as from the Hellenestic and
late Roman to Arab Islamic Ages.
The wealth of polished white houses, kebab stalls with
roasting meat, and tiny cafes where rich Arabian coffee
is sipped in the afternoon sunshine, invoke a mood
straight from traditional and magical tales such as "A
Thousand and One Nights".
In the commercial heart of the city, ultra-modern
buildings, international hotels, smart restaurants, art
galleries and boutiques rub shoulders comfortably with
traditional coffee shops and tiny artisans' workshops.
Everywhere there is evidence of the city's much older
past, paradigms of its contemporary present and a hint
of its promising future. |
