Jerash, Jordan
The Oval Plaza, or Oval Forum, is the best-known sight in Jerash and the image by which the city is recognised: a wide oval space about 90 m long and 80 m across, enclosed by an unbroken ring of closely set Ionic columns, a shape rare among the cities of the Roman world. It lies at the southern end of the ancient city just inside the South Gate, at the point where the straight colonnaded Cardo meets the hill crowned by the Temple of Zeus, and its oval form was most likely an elegant solution for joining the axis of the street to the differently angled axis of the temple. The plaza is still paved with its original stone slabs; the space served as a market and a gathering place. From its edge the Cardo runs about 800 m northwards, and above it to the south-west sits the South Theatre, from whose upper tiers the whole plaza can be seen at once, the finest angle for photographs, especially in the first light of morning or before sunset when the columns throw long shadows.
Climb to the top of the South Theatre to take in the whole plaza and photograph it, then come down and walk among the columns; a quarter of an hour is enough for the plaza itself before continuing up the Cardo. The stone paving is smooth and can be slippery on rainy days. No separate ticket: the plaza is covered by the Jerash ticket and the Jordan Pass.
Hours and prices change — check before you go. Source: Wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 4.0
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