This city is the main stronghold of Christianity in the Middle East, where Islam reigns. It is often called the “city of mosaics” and the “Pearl of Jordan”. Let's reveal all the secrets of Madaba and find out how it can surprise a tourist.
Story
In former times, the city passed from one conqueror to another more than once, was wiped off the face of the earth by wars and earthquakes, but each time it was reborn from the ashes. It was built by the Moabites in the valley and originally bore the name Medeva. Then locality was part of the Nabatean kingdom, was a Roman province, the center of a Byzantine bishopric and finally became rebuilt administrative center Jordan, where 2 thousand Christians resettled.
Nowadays, the city, despite eventful history, looks quite modern, cozy and clean. Both Muslims and Christians live here peacefully side by side. The area of the city is 39.4 square meters. km, and the population is 70,338 people.
Due to the intense heat, it is not recommended to come to Madaba, where the climate is sharply continental and dry, in summer. In winter it is quite warm here, +12…+17 °C. Best choice the trip will be in the spring or autumn season, when the weather here is optimal both for adaptation and for...
Churches in Madaba
There are a lot in the city Christian churches, both dilapidated, valuable from a historical point of view, and active ones. While here, visit the most interesting of them:
Where to stay?
The city of Madaba has several inexpensive yet excellent hotels. Tourists recommend:
- Phoenix Palace Hotel;
- Madaba Hotel;
- Queen Ayola Hotel;
- Madaba Inn Hotel.
The cost of staying at these hotels ranges from $80 to $150.
There are also several hostels in the city - prices here are approximately the same as in Amman, but the level of services provided, according to tourists, is even higher than in the capital.
Kitchen
The best restaurants in the city are:
- Dana - Middle Eastern cuisine;
- Ayar Restaurant – Lebanese;
- Jaw Zaman Restaurant and Caffe – Arabic, Mediterranean;
- Bawabit Madaba – Middle Eastern, vegetarian.
You should definitely try such dishes as falafel, shawarma, mensaf, shish kebab, sweet baklava, try mint tea and coffee with cardamom.
By the way, fruits and vegetables purchased at the Madaba bazaar should be thoroughly washed before eating, and tap water It’s better to refuse altogether, preferring bottled ones.
Shopping Features
In addition to the traditional ones for Jordan (sand from, black silver products, cosmetics), in Madaba you can buy a truly unique item that is made only here. These are beautiful woven carpets that have long become a symbol of shopping in Madaba and Jordan in general. Each of these rugs has a unique pattern. The best place for shopping in Madaba is the oriental bazaar. You can only pay in cash here. local currency– Jordanian dinars. There are also various shops in the city center (they accept cards for payment), and near each attraction there is a themed souvenir shop. When purchasing expensive souvenirs, be sure to take the receipt and keep it until you leave the country.
Unlike in Madaba, the traffic on the roads is not so busy, and the width of the sidewalks allows pedestrians to feel calm. So move around this small town The majority of tourists prefer to walk - this allows them to enjoy the general atmosphere and color of the “city of mosaics”. In addition, all the local attractions are concentrated in the central area of the city, which is very convenient.
How to get to Madaba?
People come here from Amman by rented or minibus. The latter do not have a clear schedule of movements, departing as they fill up. You can board the route to Madaba at Al Abdali Station or Alpha Terminal on Ring 7.
You can also organize a 1-day excursion with an English-speaking guide: you will be taken to all the sights of Madaba, and in the evening you will be taken back to the capital of Jordan.
The only way to get from the Dead Sea coast to Madaba is by taxi, since there is no regular service between these regions.
Biblical Medaba (the old name of Madaba) is one of the most vibrant and memorable cities of the Holy Land, located 30 km from Amman.
Madaba and its environs are mentioned several times in the Old Testament under the name of Medeva and the land of Moab. This land is associated with many Old Testament events: the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, the death of Moses, David's war against the Moabites. Madaba remained under Moab until the arrival of Roman legionaries, and in 63 BC. this city was included in the province of Syria. The city flourished as a provincial center. From the fourth century until the seventh century Byzantine period the city was a real spiritual center for many Christian communities in the region and had its own bishop. It was this era that brought fame and main attractions to the city.
At every step there are traces of the Byzantine era,
Even in private houses (!!!) of local residents there are fragments of mosaics dating back to the 13th-14th centuries.
The main attraction of the city is the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, which was built during the time of Emperor Justinian (560 -565 AD)
Patron of the church - St. George
This church has a mosaic covering depicting a map of Jerusalem and other holy places throughout the church area.
The map shows hills and valleys, villages and towns all the way to the Nile Delta.
It served as a guide to the routes of the Holy Land. To date, 157 objects have been recorded on the map. The main part of the map is the Holy City of Jerusalem, the image of which coincides with the old part of today's city. One of the main images on the map is the Place of Baptism on the Jordan River, which is opposite Jericho. To this day, the mosaic, which was made up of two million pieces of colored stone, and its full original dimensions were 25 x 5 meters, unfortunately, has not survived in full volume.
The church is richly decorated and, at the same time, cannonically verified
The gray dust of centuries on her frescoes (in the figurative sense, of course, it’s dust)
The church contains beautiful mosaic paintings with biblical scenes,
And the classical icons in the church especially struck my imagination:
Kazan Mother of God
and Trinity (almost like Andrei Rublev’s, only very small)
Let's be silent for a while, involuntarily captured by the amazing atmosphere of this church. Let's each pray for our own things, light candles...
Archaeological Museum of Madaba.
I must say - a very modest museum, lost in the narrow streets - like a local history museum.
There are no visitors. For the sake of our arrival there, the kind caretaker took the keys and opened the museum halls for us to explore.
Jewelry and jugs are made of silver
And in the photo below - the indigenous inhabitants of the Jordanian land - the Bedouins
Other attractions in Madaba include:
Madaba Folklore Museum and Archaeological Park, as well as Church of the Apostles, which is located in the southern part of the city. Built in 578 AD. This church contains one of the best mosaics in Jordan. It depicts the image of a woman emerging from the sea, with sea predators around there is a mosaic that symbolizes the sea.
And our path lay to the mountain
Bus service and minibuses exist in Jordan, but they travel without a schedule, and as they fill up with passengers, so use public transport We don't recommend it.
There are no problems with car rental in the capital. This can be done at the airport, in many large hotels and specialized rental shops. The rental price is quite reasonable - for a small hatchback like “Kia picanto” you will have to pay a little over 2 thousand rubles per day.
If you leave Amman to the south and at the junction do not turn to Queen Alia Airport, but go straight along the Madaba Bridge, then you can reach the center of Madaba in 20 minutes, and to get to the Dead Sea, where there is a hotel area, it will take another hour , since the road makes a big detour. Many residents of Amman prefer to go on picnics to the Dead Sea along the M40 highway directly, without stopping in Madaba.
Accommodation
The city has several hotels of varying star ratings and guest houses for pilgrims, where for little money you can get a bed in a shared room. Perhaps the most decent hotel in the city is the Madaba Grand Hotel in the very center, from where it is convenient to take excursions around the city and Mount Nebo.
But the city's hotels cannot compete in luxury with the coastal five-star Movenpick, Kempinski and Crown Plaza in Sowayma Bay. For a day's stay in these hotels you will have to pay at least 150-200 dollars. But they have own beaches, restaurants, provide a variety of healing and rejuvenating SPA treatments with sea salt and healing mud.
Stay program
A typical excursion to Madaba will take one day. This is enough to visit Mount Nebo, examine the mosaic floors of the local churches, visit the archaeological museum, and get acquainted with the turbulent history of the city. He is in different times belonged to the kings of Moab, was part of the Israelite and Nabataean Kingdoms, in the 2nd century AD. came under the rule of the Roman Empire, then Byzantium.
Under the Arabs, the city fell into decay and was restored only at the end of the 19th century by Christian Arabs. (Yes, there are some! In Jordan, with a population of 10 million people, there are several hundred thousand Christians, and they play a significant role in the political and business life of the country).
For pilgrims, their stay in Madaba may be prolonged, since they will probably also want to visit the place of the baptism of Jesus Christ in Bethawara, the place of execution of John the Baptist, and Lot’s cave. There are no fewer places associated with biblical events in Jordan than in Israel. Since Muslims revere Christian saints, Jesus is called one of the prophets, all local residents treat Christian shrines with care and never allow themselves to offend or oppress pilgrims.
The easiest way to get from Madaba to Mount Nebo is by taxi - you only need to travel seven kilometers. A one-day ticket to visit the mountain costs 1 dinar (about 70 rubles). You can get around in one day observation decks, Moses memorial, staff monument, Franciscan temple of the 12th century.
The history of Mount Nebo is connected with the Name of Moses. Here he brought his people after forty years of wandering in the wilderness to lead them into the Promised Land. He saw the land where he had been striving for so many years from the top of the mountain, but Moses was not destined to enter it. In the biblical book of Deuteronomy, the dying address to the Israelis sounds like this: “Now I am one hundred and twenty years old, ... and the Lord said to me: “You will not cross this Jordan.” Moses managed to look around the western bank of the Jordan River, the Dead Sea and the cities of Palestine and died. The exact place of his burial is unknown.
There was a city on the mountain in pre-Israeli times. According to biblical prophecies, it was destroyed and restored only under the Byzantines. The Church of St. has been preserved from those times. Lot with very well preserved mosaic floor. The entrance ticket to the mountain also allows entry to the church.
From an aesthetic point of view, the most interesting thing about the trip is visiting the floor mosaics in old churches. Not all of them have access, since archaeological excavations and restoration work are being carried out everywhere, but the most famous mosaics can be seen - a map of the Holy Land of the 6th century, made of two million elements, landscapes, scenes from everyday life.
Interestingly, the two-thousand-year-old tradition of mosaic art in Madaba has been restored. There is a state mosaic school and mosaic workshops there. This project is funded by the Government of Jordan.
Dead Sea
After the antiquities and beauties of Madaba, it is worth paying attention to the Dead Sea. If a specialized course of treatment is not required, then you should stay there only for a day and it is better not to take children with you - you cannot swim for a long time, you must be careful that water does not get into your eyes or mucous membranes. All you have to do is take a dip in the healing waters and wash everything off. clean water, admire the exotic landscapes, buy local cosmetics and salts (a little cheaper here than in Israel) and return to your base - Madaba or Amman.
A trip to Madaba will impress even a non-believer. The realization that you are standing in the same place and seeing the same landscape that Moses saw 3600 years ago is amazing. Civilizations pass away, empires are destroyed, cities and peoples disappear, and these silent mountains and endless plains still stand under the blue sky as a reminder of eternity.
In the vicinity of Madaba (about seven kilometers), Mount Nebo rises at an altitude of 817 meters above sea level. This place was described in the Holy Scriptures and it is believed that this particular mountain is the burial place of Moses. Many believe that it was from this mountain that Moses showed the people the way to the Promised Land and found his peace here. At the end of the fourth century, the first small church appeared on the top of this mountain, which over time became part of a large temple complex. Now this temple is operational, it amazes tourists with its grandeur, ancient mosaics of early Christianity, beautiful icons, carvings, but at the same time the temple is served by only three monks out of three different countries: Austria, Syria and Italy.
Another place that tourists do not ignore is the Mukavir fortress. This place is better known as the fortress of Herod the Great. There are many legends, myths and various stories associated with this place, which local guides can tell tourists about. The fortress was built on the top of a mountain, at an altitude of about 700 meters above sea level. A number of tragic events are also associated with this place, one of them is the execution of the prophet John the Baptist. In addition, from the top of the mountain there is an incredible view of the Dead Sea and the Jerusalem hills.
Also among the attractions of Madaba are the hot waterfalls located in the Hammamat Main resort. From Madaba they can be reached in less than an hour. The uniqueness of these springs lies in the fact that they are located in a beautiful valley significantly below sea level (264 meters). These springs are replenished thanks to winter rains and, going down the mountain, heat up to 63 degrees. This heating occurs due to underground lava. This place is known not only for its beauty, but also for its healing properties, and the positive effects of these waterfalls on the body were known even during the time of the king of Judah. These sources are enriched with many substances beneficial to the human body (for example, calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulfur). Fans of water treatments can relax and improve their health in this place all year round.
A few kilometers from Madaba is the town of Um er Rasas, which was formerly known as Kastron Mefaa. It deserves attention for several reasons, but it is considered the most ancient city in the Holy Land. It also goes without saying that the city is mentioned in the New and Old Testaments. The city has the shape of a regular triangle, and at one time it was protected on both sides by monolithic walls, which are now in a dilapidated state. There are also practically no surviving buildings left in this ancient city; the best preserved church is the Church of St. Stephen, the construction of which dates back to 785. This church attracts tourists primarily due to its mosaic floor depicting a map of the cities of the region, some of which were part of the Byzantine Empire. During the excavations, finds were discovered that date back to the Byzantine, Roman and early Muslim periods.
Typically, an excursion program to Madaba is designed for one day, but if you want to stay in the city for a longer period, there will be no problems with this. In the city there are several dozen hotels of different price categories that can satisfy the needs of travelers with different incomes.
