A town of 50,000 people with a laid-back feel to it, Madaba served as our base for exploring the north of Jordan. Its location was ideal and allowed us to visit the many sites in the northern part of the country as day trips. In fact we ended up staying in Madaba on and off for 11 days as we explored the area.
The town of Madaba is located in the Holy Lands and was one of the towns divided among the 12 tribes of Israel at the time of the Exodus. It is known for the beautiful mosaics that were uncovered there, and the most famous is from Saint Georges church and its mosaic from 560AD depicts in Greek the major biblical sites of the Middle East. The town still has a mosaic school which trains local artists in the production and restoration of mosaics.
Madaba is the most important Christian center in Jordan and has long been an example of religious tolerance. 1/3 of its population is Christian and the town has many churches.
While in Madaba we stayed in two hotels; the fantastic Marian hotel and the so-so Madaba hotel.
Our first day trip from Madaba was the ruins of Umm ar Rasas. Located 32km south from Madaba the town was mentioned in the bible as the Roman military outpost of Mepharth. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. We went to the site by local minibus and found the ruins to be interesting but underwhelming. The mosaics, which the location was known for, were covered with sand when we were there because they were building a platform over them. From the ruins we walked out into the country and arrived to one of the Bedouin camps. There we met the Bedouin kids and played with them for a while. By the time that we were ready to return to Madaba the minibuses had stopped running so we caught a ride with Ali and Kalad, a couple of locals. Although their English wasn't very good we had a great time going back with them.
The town of Madaba is located in the Holy Lands and was one of the towns divided among the 12 tribes of Israel at the time of the Exodus. It is known for the beautiful mosaics that were uncovered there, and the most famous is from Saint Georges church and its mosaic from 560AD depicts in Greek the major biblical sites of the Middle East. The town still has a mosaic school which trains local artists in the production and restoration of mosaics.
Madaba is the most important Christian center in Jordan and has long been an example of religious tolerance. 1/3 of its population is Christian and the town has many churches.
While in Madaba we stayed in two hotels; the fantastic Marian hotel and the so-so Madaba hotel.
Our first day trip from Madaba was the ruins of Umm ar Rasas. Located 32km south from Madaba the town was mentioned in the bible as the Roman military outpost of Mepharth. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. We went to the site by local minibus and found the ruins to be interesting but underwhelming. The mosaics, which the location was known for, were covered with sand when we were there because they were building a platform over them. From the ruins we walked out into the country and arrived to one of the Bedouin camps. There we met the Bedouin kids and played with them for a while. By the time that we were ready to return to Madaba the minibuses had stopped running so we caught a ride with Ali and Kalad, a couple of locals. Although their English wasn't very good we had a great time going back with them.
Steve
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