Umayyad Palace

About Umayyad Palace

Palace complex in Amman, Jordan

The Umayyad Palace crowns the northern part of the Citadel hill in Amman and is among the most important buildings the Umayyads raised in the city during the eighth century, when Amman was an administrative centre of the Balqa district. It is the most complete surviving example of Umayyad architecture in Amman and a witness to the period when the Citadel became the seat of Islamic rule after the Romans and Byzantines. Its outstanding feature is the great cruciform audience hall, whose wooden dome was rebuilt in modern restoration and is now the landmark of the site; the interior walls carry carved stone niches with vegetal and geometric ornament recalling the Umayyad art of the desert palaces of Syria and Jordan. From the hall a colonnaded street leads into a complex of buildings and courtyards that once held residences, an audience chamber and a small mosque, along with a huge circular cistern that stored rainwater. From the palace's position at the top of the hill there are wide views over eastern Amman and its hills, and it makes a natural end to a tour of the Citadel after the Temple of Hercules and the Byzantine church.

Where:

Amman, Jordan