Jerash, Jordan is the largest excavated Roman city outside of Italy. This top photo shows just a portion of the huge collonade surrounding the oval Forum. It was founded by the Greeks in the 3rd Century, B.C. but reached its peak under the Romans in the 2nd Century, A.D., with a population of about 25-30,000.
My husband took this photo looking back at the Forum while I lingered behind to take some photos without any people in them, as I had the entire Forum to myself for a while.
This is a view looking back from the main road of the city, which is lined with columns, to the hillside where the Roman theater is situated.
The theater is one of the best preserved Roman theaters, anywhere. Although there are quite a few Greek and Roman theaters where the seats are still in tact, it is rare for the stage and structure behind the stage to be preserved, especially because they have had some large earthquakes in this region during the 2,000 years since this was built.
The acoustics of the theater were outstanding and inspired these visiting school girls to break into songs and chants. It was delightful to witness this moment demonstrating the universal exuberance of youth.
3 comments:
The Romans were amazing builders. Nice series.
Always love looking at your travel photos. So much interesting info and great shots as well.
i believe my daughter has been here. she's a classical zoo-archaeologist. these are wonderful images.
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