The visitor center and museum of Jerash, Jordan.

© Photo Nature Travel/Shutterstock


Before you finish exploring ancient Jerash, visit this compact museum and visitor centre just above the forum. It houses a small but worthwhile selection of artefacts from the site, such as mosaics, glass, gold jewellery and coins found in a tomb near Hadrian’s Arch. Almost as good as the exhibits is the view the hill affords of Jerash, ancient and modern, spread across either side of the town’s defining wadi.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Jerash attractions

1. Forum

0.05 MILES

Whatever the light and whatever the weather, the forum, with its organ-pipe columns arranged around an unusual oval-shaped plaza, is always breathtaking…

2. Agora

0.07 MILES

On the western side of the cardo maximus is the agora, where people gathered for public meetings around the central fountain.

3. Vaulted Gallery

0.08 MILES

The vaulted passageway under the courtyard of the Temple of Zeus is a good starting point in Jerash's ancient city. When your eyes become accustomed to…

4. Temple of Zeus

0.08 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 …

5. Roman Ruins of Jerash

0.09 MILES

The ruined city of Jerash is Jordan's largest and most interesting Roman site, and a major tourist drawcard. Its imposing ceremonial gates, colonnaded…

6. Lookout

0.1 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.

7. Southern Tetrapylon

0.1 MILES

Marking the intersection of the cardo maximus with the south decumanus, this four-pillared structure is in good repair.

8. South Gate

0.1 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…