Only an hour's drive north of Amman lies Jerash, the Roman Gerasa, widely regarded as one of the most beautifully preserved Graeco-Roman cities in the world. Nestled at the bottom of a green valley, the city was forgotten for ten centuries.

To conjure up the past splendor of Jerash, one only needs to walk along the colonnaded streets and visit the imposing arches, the temples of Zeus and Artemis, the Oval Forum, the theaters and the Public Baths, testimony of a remarkable, unbroken chain of human occupation.

Jordan today has brought the city alive again with an annual festival of the arts held in July of every year. The Jerash Festival, an exciting celebration of Jordanian and international culture and the arts, brings together artists from around the world to perform on the very stages Graeco-Romans had celebrated on thousands of years before.