Al Salt
This town, located West of Amman, was
once the Ottoman capital of the region and thus has much to explore
architecturally. The hillside city was passed over for Amman as the
capital of the new TransJordan state.
Al Salt has retained much of its laid
back old world charm, likely stemming from the fact that it didn't become
the capital of Jordan in the early 20th century. Leave that fate to
Salt's bigger sister to the East: Amman.
Located on a picturesque hillside in
a somewhat rural yet accessible area, Salt is well known for its wonderful
Ottoman era architecture and its large Christian population. This is
a great place to stay overnight, taking in an evening stroll and a morning
cup of coffee in a small café.
There is a great museum in Salt called
the Department of Antiquities Museum, easy to find once you are in the
village itself. The museum contains a great collection of items from
as early as 4500 BCE and gives a well rounded overview to ancient history
of the area as well.
Al-Salt is also the rumored burial
place of the Biblical Job (known in Arabic as Prophet Ayyoub), his final
resting place is purportedly located somewhere in Wadi Shu Ayb.
<--- back to
Jordanian city index
