Madaba

Thirty kilometers from Amman located on the 5,000 year-old Kings’ Highway is one of the most important and most memorable places in the Holy Land of Jordan – the city of Madaba, also known as the ‘City of Mosaics’.

It is famous for its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics; the famous 6th century Mosaic Maps of Jerusalem and the Holy Land are found here. The map is poetry in mosaic – two million pieces of brightly colored stones have been used to depict hills and valleys, villages and towns. The Madaba Mosaic Map covers the floor of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George. The church was built in 1896 AD and the mosaic panel of the map was originally 94 square meters, but only a quarter of that is remaining today. The interior of the church is very colorful with pictures and mosaic-like pictures all over the walls. The church is still in use and used for regular mass.

There are other mosaic masterpieces to be found in the church of the Virgin and the Apostles as well as in the Archaeological Museum in Madaba. The mosaic designs depict flowers, plants, birds, fish, animals, as well as scenes from mythology and everyday activities such as hunting, fishing, and farming. You will be astonished to know that hundreds and thousands of mosaics between the fifth and seventh centuries lie scattered through Madaba’s churches and homes.

Near the Church of the Virgin is the Madaba Institute for Mosaic Art and Restoration which is run under the Ministry of Tourism. This institute is the only one of its kind in the Middle East and it trains artists in the art of making, repairing, and restoring mosaics.  If you were to go southeast of Madaba, you will find Umm er-Rasas which has a number of churches with beautiful and stunning mosaic floors. Travel 20 kms west of Madaba and you will come to Mount Nebo where you will see a church and a mosaic museum. The famous ‘Serpentine Cross’ can be seen here – it is a sculpture by an Italian artist symbolizing man and God by a snake and a cross. This place is extremely important to Christians as it has Biblical significance. It is said that God showed Moses the Promised Land here, and it is believed that Moses was buried here.  Madaba has another famous church which is more popularly known as the Cathedral of Saint John, the Baptist. This church is still used for daily service and Sunday mass.

Madaba has a couple of museums – one is called the Folk Museum which has displays of mannequins wearing traditional dresses and costumes, old jewelries and some potteries. We come to know of the history of Christian and Moslem communities in Madaba. The second museum is called the Archeological Museum which contains some authentic old mosaics. You can see some traditional Madaba houses with cellar-like insides and tiles.

There are a few exceptionally good hotels in Madaba with reasonably good amenities and facilities. You can find a number of restaurants which offer the traditional Jordanian as well as international cuisine. The most popular Jordanian food is ‘Hummus’, which is a puree of chick peas blended with pulped sesame seeds. ‘Fool Moudames’ is a well known local appetizer. ‘Koubba Maqliya’ and ‘Mansaf’ are famous traditional dishes. When in Jordan, eat like Jordanians do.

When in Jordan, do come and visit the ancient city of Madaba – it has a lot of history behind it.