Lookout Point

Umm Qais


This viewpoint offers tremendous vistas over Israel and the Palestinian Territories across the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Umm Qais attractions

1. Baths

0.06 MILES

West along the decumanus maximus are the overgrown public baths. Built in the 4th century, this would once have been an impressive complex of fountains …

2. Shops

0.06 MILES

The shells of a row of shops remain in the western section of what was once the colonnaded courtyard of the Basilica Terrace.

3. Nymphaeum

0.06 MILES

This public water fountain, once a two-storey complex with a large covered cistern, has niches for statues of the water goddesses.

4. Decumanus Maximus

0.08 MILES

Still paved to this day, the main road through the site once linked Gadara with other nearby ancient cities such as Abila and Pella. In its heyday, the…

5. Basilica Terrace

0.09 MILES

A bit of imagination is needed to reconstruct the colonnaded courtyard of the Basilica Terrace, the western section of which housed a row of shops. The…

6. West Theatre

0.13 MILES

Entering Umm Qais from the south, the first structure of interest is the well-restored and brooding West Theatre. Constructed from black basalt, it once…

7. Gadara

0.17 MILES

In the northwestern corner of Jordan, in the hills above the Jordan Valley, are the ruins of the Decapolis city of Gadara (now called Umm Qais). The site…

8. Museum

0.18 MILES

Housed in Beit Russan, the former residence of an Ottoman governor, this modest museum is set around an elegant and tranquil courtyard of fig trees. The…