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Hippodrome in Jerash.

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Hippodrome

Jerash

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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, 30 times the current capacity, and hosted mainly athletics competitions and chariot races. Recent excavations have unearthed the remains of stables and pottery workshops, plus indications that the site was used for polo by invading Sassanians from Persia during the early 7th century.

In recent years the hippodrome has hosted chariot races and reconstructions of Roman military manoeuvres, but falling tourist numbers since the Arab Spring have put these on ice for now.

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Nearby Jerash attractions

1. Hadrian’s Arch

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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…

2. South Gate

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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…

3. Upper Temple of Zeus

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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…

4. South Theatre

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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. Lookout

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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.

6. Temple of Zeus

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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 …

7. Vaulted Gallery

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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…

8. Forum

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