Jordan: Amman Citadel and Roman Theatre

For a purportedly ancient city, Amman has very little in terms of ancient ruins preserved, with exception given to the Roman Theatre downtown and the citadel, atop one of the hills adjacent to the down town area. Entrance to these two places is 1JD each – approximately $2 – and there are museums attached to both.

The theatre is easy to find, ancient Roman columns line the walkway in front of it, something that I noticed ahead of lifting my gaze a touch and seeing a very large, stone auditorium built into the side of a very large hill. The rake of the steps is fierce and the seats catch most of the afternoon sun… it can’t be terribly pleasant in the height of summer. Some of the theatre has been a little unfaithfully restored but it’s hardly to the detriment of the overall imposing nature of the venue.

Roman Theatre, looking across the pit.

Roman Theatre, looking down from one of the first class sections. Amman is in the background, the Citadel is atop that hill in the background.

The citadel is a different beast. Given the mazey nature of the hillside streets here, I deferred to a taxi to take me to the top. Some laziness may have also been involved. Abdul, the cabbie, was keen to drum up repeat business and fed me his number rather quickly. His English is passable and driving is less suicidal than most so I pocketed it without telling too many outright lies about his chances at winning a call up.

View from the Citadel. The flag mast pictured is about 120m tall, the flag is about 30m long. It is apparently the largest flag on the planet.

The citadel is essentially an old fort with the ruins of the Temple of Hercules and a mosque within the ruins of the compound. The temple is in poor shape; it’s basically half a wall, a few standing columns and a few more that have toppled and now serve as good benches to sit on while changing a camera lens.

Temple of Hercules (what's left of it, anyway)

And there’s an elbow.

All that remains of the statue of Hercules is an elbow and what might be a fingernail. The fingernail is about the size of my head. Allegedly, the statue stood at approximately 16m.

… that’s a lot of Kevin Sorbo.

The mosque and the ruins around it are much more intact and make for a curious juxtaposition with Amman for a backdrop. The Temple of Hercules, dilapidated as it is sounds a little like a letdown. It most certainly isn’t, but it is really just an appetiser.

Citadel Mosque