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In addition to Jerash and Amman,
Gadara ( now Umm Qais
) and Pella ( now
Tabaqat Fahil ) were once
Decapolis cities, and each has unique appeal.
Famous for the biblical story of the Gadarene
Swine, was renewed in its time as a cultural
centre. Perched on a splendid hill top overlooking
the Jordan Valley and the sea of Galilee, Umm Qais
boasts impressive ancient remains. Such as the
stunning black basalt theatre, the basilica and
adjacent courtyard strewn with nicely carved black
sarcophagi, the colonnaded main street and a side
street lined with shops, an underground mausoleum,
two baths, a nymphaeum, a city gate and the faint
on outlines of what was a massive hippodrome.
Pella is exceptionally rich in
antiquities, some of which are exceedingly old.
Besides the excavated ruins from the Graeco-
Roman period, Pella offers visitors the
opportunity to see the remains of Chalcolithic
settlement from the 4th millennium BC, evidence of
Bronze and Iron age walled cities, Byzantine
churches, early Islamic residence and a small
medieval mosque.
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