The Citadel
This contains the remains of the Temple of Hercules, built between 161BC and 166BC, and the Jordanian Archaeological Museum with its collections of pottery, glass, flint and metal tools, a copy of the Mesha Stele and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Nearby the domed eighth-century BC Al-Qasr or palace is the centrepiece of a once mighty Umayyad city.
Ticket office: Mathaf Street, just off King Ali Bin Al-Hussein Street
Tel: (06) 463 8795 (Jordanian archaeological Museum)
Roman Philadelphia
Downhill from the Citadel on Al-Hashami Street the Corinthian colonnade of Philadelphia's original market place, The Forum, leads to a Roman Theatre, built during the reign of Antonius Pius (138-161BC). On the left side of the theatre stage a statue of a Bedouin warrior guards the Museum of Popular Tradition with its sixth-century mosaics, collections of antique jewellery and displays of traditional costumes. At the other side the statue of a Circassian in traditional dress stands at the Jordanian Folklore Museum. A Bedouin tent features in a tableau depicting desert life and a recreated living room from an Ammani house depicts the life of city dwellers.
Tel: (06) 465 1742 (Museum of Popular Tradition)
Tel: (06) 465 1742 (Jordanian Folklore Museum)
Hejaz Railway Station
The Hejaz Railway Station, which is best visited in a taxi, is like a time-tunnel to a vanished age. Just ask the taxi driver to take you to Mahatta, the Station. Trains leave from here to make the eight- or nine-hour trip to Damascus using rolling stock that was old when Lawrence of Arabia was attempting to blow it up. There's a fine collection of working steam locomotives that are used for corporate and tourist excursions, a remarkable little railway museum and a very friendly station master.
Tel: (06) 489 5414.
Website: www.jhr.gov.jo
Royal Automobile Museum
This museum has an amazing collection of motorbikes and cars going back to the time of the Great Arab Revolt and includes the late King Hussein's 1952 Lincoln Capri (that he had when a student in England) and the 1955 Mercedes 300SL ‘Gullwing' he once raced.
Al-Hussein National Park
Tel: (06) 541 1392.
This contains the remains of the Temple of Hercules, built between 161BC and 166BC, and the Jordanian Archaeological Museum with its collections of pottery, glass, flint and metal tools, a copy of the Mesha Stele and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Nearby the domed eighth-century BC Al-Qasr or palace is the centrepiece of a once mighty Umayyad city.
Ticket office: Mathaf Street, just off King Ali Bin Al-Hussein Street
Tel: (06) 463 8795 (Jordanian archaeological Museum)
Roman Philadelphia
Downhill from the Citadel on Al-Hashami Street the Corinthian colonnade of Philadelphia's original market place, The Forum, leads to a Roman Theatre, built during the reign of Antonius Pius (138-161BC). On the left side of the theatre stage a statue of a Bedouin warrior guards the Museum of Popular Tradition with its sixth-century mosaics, collections of antique jewellery and displays of traditional costumes. At the other side the statue of a Circassian in traditional dress stands at the Jordanian Folklore Museum. A Bedouin tent features in a tableau depicting desert life and a recreated living room from an Ammani house depicts the life of city dwellers.
Tel: (06) 465 1742 (Museum of Popular Tradition)
Tel: (06) 465 1742 (Jordanian Folklore Museum)
Hejaz Railway Station
The Hejaz Railway Station, which is best visited in a taxi, is like a time-tunnel to a vanished age. Just ask the taxi driver to take you to Mahatta, the Station. Trains leave from here to make the eight- or nine-hour trip to Damascus using rolling stock that was old when Lawrence of Arabia was attempting to blow it up. There's a fine collection of working steam locomotives that are used for corporate and tourist excursions, a remarkable little railway museum and a very friendly station master.
Tel: (06) 489 5414.
Website: www.jhr.gov.jo
Royal Automobile Museum
This museum has an amazing collection of motorbikes and cars going back to the time of the Great Arab Revolt and includes the late King Hussein's 1952 Lincoln Capri (that he had when a student in England) and the 1955 Mercedes 300SL ‘Gullwing' he once raced.
Al-Hussein National Park
Tel: (06) 541 1392.
