Madaba, "THE CITY OF MOSAICS." Madaba’s chief attraction – in the contemporary Greek Orthodox Church of St. George – is a wonderfully vivid, sixth-century Byzantine mosaic map showing Jerusalem and other holy sites. With tow million pieces of colored stone, and a full 25X5 meters in its original state, the map depicts hills and valleys, villages and towns, as far away as the Nile Delta. This masterpiece is unrivaled in Jordan, but there are literally hundreds of other mosaics from the 5th through the 7th Centuries, scattered throughout Madaba’s churches and homes. Tem minutes to the west is the most revered site in Jordan :
 
  MOUNT NEBO, the memorial of Moses, the presumed site of the prophet’s death and burial place. A small, square church was built on the spot by early Byzantine Christians, and later expanded into a vast complex. Sixty years of excavation reveal a basilica-church and a large cluster of monastic buildings. From a platform in front of the church you take in a breathtaking view across the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea to the rooftops of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. ( Continuing, you arrive at Mukawer and nearby Machaerus, the hilltop stronghold of Herod the Great. Upon Herod’s death, the fortress fell to Herod Antipas, and it is here that John the Baptist was beheaded.).

[Amman] [Petra] [Aqaba] [Dead Sea] [Jerash] [Um Qeis, Pella] [Wadi Rum] [Madaba]
[Baptism Site]