Royal Botanic Garden

Jordan


The new Royal Botanic Garden aims to showcase Jordan's surprisingly varied flora and highlight best practice in habitat conservation. The site, which overlooks the King Talal Dam, spreads over 180 hectares, with a variation in elevation of 300m, allowing it to reproduce Jordan's main habitat zones – pine forest, oak forest, juniper forest, the Jordan Valley and freshwater wadi. Check the website for access details, as the garden only erratically opens to the public.

The RBG aims to become a key research foundation, with a seed bank and herbarium (set up with the help of Kew Gardens in London; its virtual version can be browsed online), as well as teaching organic farming and permaculture techniques. The garden also has an outreach program with local farming communities. Volunteers who wish to work at the RBG are welcomed.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Jordan attractions

1. Dibeen Forest Reserve

5.24 MILES

Established in 2004, this nature reserve consists of an 8-sq-km area of Aleppo pine and oak forest. Managed by the Royal Society for the Conservation of…

2. Hadrian’s Arch

7.16 MILES

There’s no better way of gaining a sense of the pomp and splendour of Rome than walking through the triumphal, 13m-tall Hadrian’s Arch at the entrance to…

3. Hippodrome

7.24 MILES

Built sometime between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, this ancient sports field (244m by 50m) was once surrounded by seating for up to 15,000 spectators,…

4. South Theatre

7.37 MILES

As you enter the South Theatre through a wooden door between the arches, there’s little to suggest the treasure encased by the plain exterior. But then…

5. Upper Temple of Zeus

7.39 MILES

Though most of it has collapsed, this temple has imposing 15m-high columns that are some of Jerash's most dramatic. The thick walls of the sanctum still…

6. South Gate

7.4 MILES

Two hundred metres north of the hippodrome is the imposing South Gate, which was likely constructed in AD 130 and originally served as one of four…

7. Lookout

7.41 MILES

Near the South Theatre, this viewpoint offers a panorama of the forum and beyond – one of the first opportunities to truly take in the size of Jerash.

8. Temple of Zeus

7.43 MILES

Built in AD 162 over the remains of an earlier Roman temple, the Temple of Zeus was once approached by a magnificent stairway leading from the temenos …