About Jordan - Umm Qais
Umm Qais
Umm Qais, situated 110 km north of Amman on a broad promontory 378 meters above sea level with a magnificent view over the Yarmouk River, the Golan Heights, and Lake Tiberias, this town was known as Gadara, one of the most brilliant ancient Greco-Roman cities of the Decapolis; and according to the Bible, the spot where Jesus (pbuh) cast out the Devil from two demoniacs (mad men).
Umm Qais's charm still lingers today. A large portion of the western Roman Theater has survived history's upheavals. Vaulted passageway supports its rows of seats, built of hard basalt stones. A row of elaborately carved seats for dignitaries stand near the orchestra, and in the center was a large headless white marble statue of Tyche, goddess of fortune and of the city, now displayed at the local museum.
Across from the theater is the main colonnaded street (cardo), which was in all likelihood the town's commercial center. Also, near the black basalt theater is the Terrace, which hosts a courtyard, a church and a basilica. Further west of the Terrace and along the east-west colonnaded street (decumanus), ruins of the Nymphaeum, a bath complex and a well-preserved Roman Mausoleum can be seen. After a few hundred meters one can barely make out remains of what was once a Hippodrome.