Umm Qais-Gadara
The Decapolis,meaning ten cities in Greek,consisted of ten Graeco-Roman cities in the land northern Jordan,Syria and Palestine.
One of these cities is Umm Qais,Known in antiquity as Gadara.
Umm Qais founded around the end of the 4th century BC.the ancient Gadara was from the beginning a prestigious cultural centre and was the birthplace of the Greek philosophers Menippus and Philodemus,as well as the poet Meleager.
Its fame continued intact under Augustus,but as a result of its political leanings.it was semi-destroyed by the Romans in the year 70.
An Ottoman village was built with reused material on the area where the acropolis was once located.
Gadara commands magnificent views over the northern Jordan Valley,The Sea of Galilee(Lake Tiberias),the Yarmouk River gorge and the Golan Heights.On a clear day the snow peak of Mount Hermon is visible.