2nd-3rd March: Mosaics in Madaba

1st March

Breakfast was served in the 5th floor restaurant offering us a great view over… the miserable weather outside. Not only was it rainy, but the wind was ice cold. We made the most of the breakfast buffet, although John's six pancakes were probably excessive. As there was no prospect of an improvement over the course of the day, we wrapped ourselves in full waterproof gear and headed out towards the centre of the city.

Snow in Madaba

His Royal Highness

The main attraction in Madaba is a 6th century (Byzantine-era) floor mosaic found during the construction of a Greek Orthodox church (Saint George) in the late 19th century. The map represents the major sites of the Holy Land, from Lebanon to Palestine and Egypt. The city of Jerusalem is in the centre, as the principal city, surrounded by another 157 towns labelled in Greek. The discovery of the mosaic shed new light on the location of biblical sites. Scientists were able to identify some of the sites on the map in present-day Jerusalem, such as the Roman way and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Mosaic map

Jerusalem

Jericho (IEPIXW) and the River Jordan

We were slightly less lucky with the Archaeological park, one part of which was closed for the week end. Strangely but fortunately for us, another part of the park was open so we were able to enjoy various other beautiful 6th century mosaics, most of which were inside the Church of the Virgin and Hippolytus Hall. Those mosaics depicted hunting, allegorical scenes (the four seasons) and mythical figures (Hippolytus and Phaedra), and the city goddesses of Madaba, Rome and Gregoria.

Church of the Virgin and Hippolytus Hall

Mosaic in Hippolytus Hall

Close up of the three cities

Close up of Phaedra

Mosaic in the Church of the Virgin

On our way to the Church of St John the Baptist, we stopped by a shop to look at the beauty products made with dead sea minerals. The man was friendly and a great salesman so I ended up with three products: facial and body mud products and some moisturising cream.

We stopped once more on our way to the next church, this time at a hairdresser's. The man agreed to take John right away, as he could clearly see that it was an emergency. I had been pestering John to get a haircut for the last month or more, so this was a great day.

We finally made it to the Church of St John the Baptist, a Roman Catholic church. Someone whom I would have thought was the vicar welcomed us and took us to the old cellars beneath the Church, taking us back through the centuries to the first settlers in Madaba. The old cellars beneath the Church were part of the foundations laid out by the Romans and later incorporated as part of a Turkish fort. The excavations have been conducted privately, and they are currently working on other areas of the foundations. In the corner of a gallery was an old well, which he told us dates back to the Maobites, i.e., the late Bronze Age era. The man pulled the bucket up from around 15m and it was filled with warm water, which was quite impressive given the bitter cold temperature outside. We were glad to have walked up there, it was well worth the visit. The small visitors centre by the Church held great pictures of Madaba in the late 19th century, not long after Christian families moved from Kerak to settle in the area.

The facade of the Church of St John the Baptist

Inside the Church of St John the Baptist

It was then time for a break and for lunch. We went to one of the restaurants recommended in the Lonely Planet, and had a delicious lunch under a heater and in front of amusing video clips featuring sexy dances. Back at the hotel, we worked on the blog for a few hours. Time flew by, and by the time we realised that it was dinner time it was already quite late and the weather was still pretty bad. We therefore decided to try the hotel's restaurant. The meal was not very exciting but at least we did not have to walk under the rain.

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March 2

The rain and the wind had not yet relented, but there were still a few places to see in Madaba so we ventured out, once more well wrapped up. We first walked to the Church of the Apostles, dating from the 6th century. The man guarding the Church was very friendly and gave us a little tour around, which proved particularly helpful as he used a wet cloth to reveal the colours of the mosaics, which were covered in a fine layer of dust. The mosaic representing the Greek sea goddess, Thalassa, was particularly impressive.

Church of the Apostles

A little water helps

Tiger

Thalassa (unfortunately with the dust intact)

The friendly man recommended that we visited the Madaba museum, which was not far away. After a few false steps we finally found the entrance of this charming (and slightly run-down) museum. We were warmly welcomed and started our visit with a look at mosaic floors from Byzantine houses. The museum also had a great collection of traditional costumes (and in particular embroidered dresses) and of pottery dating from the Maobite era.

We had seen most of the mosaics in town and decided that it would probably suffice. We therefore retreated from the damp weather to a warm cafe where locals where smoking narguile. What we had thought would be a little snack arrived in the form of two big plates; we managed, of course. 

We then went back to the hotel and for some reason we had the same issue as the evening before: we got slightly carried away while planning the rest of the trip and working on the blog, and it was quite late when we realised that it was time to have dinner. Our meal in the hotel's restaurant the previous night had been uninspiring but tolerable. This time it was absolutely inedible, one of the worst meals we have had during our travels. A disappointing end to our stay in Madaba, although if we hadn't been so lazy we could have spared ourselves the experience.