24 December 11, 2015 Travel www.thearabweekly.com

Jordan’s Agenda Dubai: Umm Qais an Until December 19th The Jumeirah Lake Tower Park hosts the third JLT Outdoor Cin- attraction off ema Experience where guests can watch movies under the stars. Children and adults are allowed free entry to watch a film a day in the beaten track the open air of the JLT Park. Beirut: Until December 23th Raied T. Shuqum cord ended Israel’s occupation of the area that began following the The eighth Beirut Chants Festival 1967 Middle East War. takes place in historic churches Amman “It was a rightful step that re- of the central district of Beirut stored our sovereignty over Jor- and its surroundings. Celebrating ff the beaten track, in the danian territory that had been oc- Christmas, the festival’s pro- north-western tip of Jor- cupied,” said Abdelsalam Majali, a gramme includes choral, sacred dan’s borders with Israel former Jordanian prime minister music, chamber and philhar- and Syria, are the ruins whose government negotiated the monic orchestra performances of the Decapolis city of accord with Israel. and appearances by international OGadara, which has been known as “Peace allowed us to open the soloists. National and interna- Umm Qais since the Middle Ages. area for tourism,” Majali said. tional artists, such as La Scala, Situated on a ridge in a defensi- Umm Qais has been a Christian Notre Dame University Choir, the ble position, naturally protected pilgrimage destination. It is, tradi- Lebanese Philharmonic Orches- by steep inclines on three sides and tion says, where Jesus cast out the tra, Abeer Nehme, Jeff Cohen and only accessible on its eastern side, devil from two people into a herd Abdel Rahman el Bacha, have col- Gadara is­ 378 metres above sea lev- of pigs (Matthew 8:28-34) “in the laborated on the festival line-up. el on hills above the Jordan valley, country of the Gadarenes”, which overlooking Lake Tiberias, the Go- has often been associated with Ga- Beirut: lan Heights and the Yarmouk river dara. Until December 26th gorge. A series of earthquakes around In 218BC, the Greek historian the year 747 destroyed much of Ga- Souk El Tayeb is a weekly market Polybius described Gadara as be- dara’s infrastructure. Ultimately, that hosts more than 60 produc- ing the “strongest of all places in the city was abandoned. In 1806, ers from across Lebanon with the region” but it nonetheless fell German explorer Ulrich Seetzen food products as well as tradi- shortly thereafter to Seleucid King identified the ruins as those of Ga- tional and handmade crafts. Souk Antiochus III of Syria. dara. El Tayeb is open every Saturday Gadara’s main draw is its spec- Excavations began in 1974 and from 9am-2pm at Beirut Souks in tacular panoramic view of Israel, uncovered many remains, includ- Beirut, facing the Medgulf build- the Palestinian territories, Lebanon ing a colonnaded street, a thea- ing on Trablos Street. and Syria. Its long and rich history tre, a mausoleum and a Byzantine adds to its charm. church. In 2004 Gadara was found Algiers to have had a 170-km Roman aque- December 12th-17th Gadara’s main draw duct. During Ottoman rule in the The Mahieddine Bachtarzi is its spectacular 1890s, a village began to flourish National Theatre (TNA), will panoramic on the Roman ruins, with inhabit- host the seventh International ants reusing the already cut stones Cultural Festival of Contemporary view of Israel, in the area to build their homes Dance (FCIDC). The festival will the Palestinian around the courtyards. introduce troupes from Algeria, territories, Lebanon In 1986, the 1,500 inhabitants ac- the Middle East and Europe, cepted payment from the Ministry presenting performances from and Syria. of Tourism to leave their homes so classical ballet to modern chore- Archaeological sites of Umm Qais. archaeologists could excavate the ography. “Oh my God, Umm Qais has a site. Since then not a single cen- wonderful feel to it,” said Svetlana timetre of village land has been At the site, the main paved Ro- tine fifth- or sixth-century church Katara Beach, Qatar: Bourenskaya, a Russian tour leader. cleared due to budget constraints. man street runs from east to west and a basilica. December 18th-20th “It has the most magnificent grand Instead the Ministry of Tourism leading into the abandoned Otto- The site’s museum, which is the view that I have seen in this whole backed a project to convert the Ot- man village, where one can wander former residence of the Ottoman The fourth Run the World Festival region. It makes one imagine the toman cottages into a tourist village freely in and out of the many court- governor, rests on the top of the hill (RTW) features a variety of sports days gone by and one truly feels and chalet-style hotel in the mid- yards and alleys. Furrows in the in an elegant two-storey building, competitions, including basket- uplifted from the experience.” 1990s, starting with a rest house paved road were made by wheels of with an internal courtyard. With ball, volleyball, football, cricket, Russian groups visiting the site and museum but once again only a ancient vehicles. its hippodrome and partly recon- BMX, skateboarding and parkour. “just loved it” though the place handful of houses were renovated. The street leads to the haunting structed monumental gateway, the The opening ceremony is set for needed better facilities, such as Tour guide Mohammad Abdo West Theatre, built entirely of ba- site is designed to impress. Qatar’s National Day and is to fea- more washrooms, restaurants and said the site deserves more tour- salt, which has essentially survived “We are sure to bring more peo- ture unique Qatari performances coffee shops, Bourenskaya added. ists, noting that “the numbers have the test of time. In the theatre’s ple to this delightful site and to Jor- as well as the RTW Souq, which Umm Qais is divided into two dropped due to all the tension in centre used to be a large headless dan as a whole but I hope the coun- provides a market for a variety parts: a new village inhabited by the region”. white marble statue of Tyche, the try and the site realise that bringing of items and many different cul- 7,000 people and an historic part Tourism Ministry data show a goddess of fortune and prosperity in more tourists entails upgrading tures. Also on the programme are with remarkable Roman ruins drop in the number of tourists to of a city in Greek mythology. The services,” Bourenskaya said. Youth Got Talent performances. standing together with the striking the site from 132,884 to 119,736 be- figure is on display at the site’s mu- The daunting fact is that what houses of black basalt and white tween January and July 2015, com- seum. one sees above ground is only a Nabeul: limestone of an abandoned Otto- pared with the same period in 2014. North of the theatre is the vil- small part of Gadara, which in an- December 20th-28th man village. As visitors approach the ancient lage’s most striking area, the Ba- cient times extended for a kilo- Outside the tourist area, Jordan site at the western edge of the silica Terrace, cut into the bedrock metre westward from the Basilica Nabeul, a coastal town in north- retrieved lands — mostly planta- modern village of Umm Qais, two on one side and from the other side Terrace, yet remains largely unex- eastern Tunisia hosts the 30th tions — in Umm Qais from Israel Roman tombs in a hollow lead the supported by vaulted shops, which cavated and unrestored. International Neapolis Festival for under a 1994 peace treaty. The ac- way to the grounds. hosts a courtyard, a square Byzan- Kids’ Theatre. The festival takes Raied T. Shuqum, based in place in Nabeul’s diverse theatre Amman, has reported on regional district and will host shows from issues since 1999. India, Argentina, Lebanon, Alge- ria, Saudi Arabia and France.

Dubai: January 22nd-23rd

Alserkal Avenue in Dubai will host the Quoz Arts Festival. The festival includes live art, murals, workshops, film screenings, gallery openings and live music performed and created by local talents. Alserkal Avenue will be open all day during the exhibi- tion.

We welcome submissions of calendar items related to cultural events of interest to travellers in the Middle East and North Africa.

Please send tips to: (Photo credit: Nader Daoud) [email protected] Umm Qais, a northern Jordanian village that lies on the border with Israel, West Bank and Syria.