photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Dick Osseman | all galleries >> Umm Quais aka Gadara >> Sacral buildings on the western terrace > Jordan Um Quais 2013 1228.jpg
previous | next
05-Jun-2013 Dick Osseman

Jordan Um Quais 2013 1228.jpg

view map

Church terrace (notice on site) : During the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods two churches were built on a terrace which had been constructed on the western slope of the Acropolis during the second century AD. The churches replaced an earlier Roman public building, probably a colonnaded hall or a market basilica. During the first half of the 6th century AD a church consisting of square building with an octagonal interior was erected in the approximate centre of the terrace. To the west of the church an entrance hall (narthex) was added and to the north, a colonnaded courtyard (atrium). From the main street of the city three gates provided access to the terrace. To the south of the church a smaller, three-aisled basilica was built in the middle of the second half of the 6th century AD. The finds of four tombs and five reliquaries in the churches indicate the importance of the complex. Probably this was a site of pilgrimage, in which the tomb in the middle of the earlier church may have been the grave of a venerated martyr. Like the West Theatre and many other buildings in Gadara, the churches were destroyed by earthquakes in the middle of the 8th century.
I took pictures walking about, a bit randomly.

Nikon D4
1/1000s f/8.0 at 15.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
share
Type your message and click Add Comment
It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest.
Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help private comment