Pella

In addition to Jerash and Amman, Gadara ( now Umm Qais ) and Pella ( now Tabaqat Fahil ) were once Decapolis cities, and each has unique appeal. Famous for the biblical story of the Gadarene Swine, was renewed in its time as a cultural centre. Perched on a splendid hill top overlooking the Jordan Valley and the sea of Galilee, Umm Qais boasts impressive ancient remains. Such as the stunning black basalt theatre, the basilica and adjacent courtyard strewn with nicely carved black sarcophagi, the colonnaded main street and a side street lined with shops, an underground mausoleum, two baths, a nymphaeum, a city gate and the faint on outlines of what was a massive hippodrome. Pella is exceptionally rich in antiquities, some of which are exceedingly old. Besides the excavated ruins from the Graeco- Roman period, Pella offers visitors the opportunity to see the remains of Chalcolithic settlement from the 4th millennium BC, evidence of Bronze and Iron age walled cities, Byzantine churches, early Islamic residence and a small medieval mosque.