JARASH / Second only to Petra in tourist appeal, the ancient city of Jarash is remarkable for its long chain of human occupation. Here at a well-watered site in the hills of Gilead, remains from Neolithic times have been found, as well as Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad and  

others. Jarash's golden age, however, arrived with Roman rule. Today it is acknowledged as one of the best-preserved province cities of the Roman Empire. Jarash was a member of the Decapolis, a dynamic commercial league of ten Graeco-Roman cities.

When Emperor Hadrian visited Jarash in 129 AD, it was already thriving. To honour its guest, the city raised a Triumphal Arch, just one part of a massive building programme. Today you can walk beneath the imposing South Gate and then make your way up the 'Street of Columns' - the Roman Cardo - running 600 metres north from the Oval Plaza.  As you step over the tracks of chariot wheels, still visible in the paving stones, imagine.