Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
have suggested a more serpentine approach. This is one of Jerash's great highlights and
the opportunity to walk along its entire 800m length from North Gate to forum well re-
wards the effort.
Built in the 1st century AD and complete with manholes to underground drainage, the
street was redesigned and rebuilt several times and bears the hallmarks of the city's prin-
cipal street, with the ruts worn by thousands of chariots scored into the original flagstones.
The 500 columns that once lined the street were deliberately built at an uneven height to
complement the facades of the buildings that once stood behind them. Although most of
the columns you see today were reassembled in the 1960s, they give an excellent impres-
sion of this spectacular thoroughfare.
There are many buildings of interest on either side of the cardo maximus, in various
states of restoration and ruin. From north to south, the highlights include the
northern
tetrapylon
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(archway with four entrances), built over the in-
tersection with the
north decumanus
(one of two main streets running east to west); re-
built in 2000, it was probably designed as a gateway to the North Theatre.
Western (and Eastern) Baths
Beside the intersection, on the eastern side of the cardo maximus, lie the earthquake-
stricken remains of the
Western Baths
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- once an impressive
complex of hot-
(calidarium)
, warm-
(tepidarium)
and cold-water
(frigidarium)
baths. In
Roman times, public bathing fulfilled the role of a social club (much as Jordan's modern
bathhouses do today), and attracted a wide variety of people who gathered to exchange
news and gossip as well as to enjoy music, lectures and performances. Dating from the
2nd century AD, the Western Baths represent one of the earliest examples of a dome atop
a square room.
The
Eastern Baths
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lie outside the gated city on the other
side of the wadi in the modern town of Jerash. They are lit up at night and are interest-
ingly juxtaposed with a modern mosque.
BATHHOUSE
Nymphaeum
After the stairway leading to the Temple of Artemis, on the western side of the cardo max-
imus is the elegant nymphaeum, the main ornamental fountain of the city that was dedic-
ated to the water nymphs. Built in about AD 191, the two-storey construction was elabor-
ately decorated, faced with marble slabs on the lower level, plastered on the upper level
FOUNTAIN
