Though rivaling the town of Gerasa in age and former glory, the ruins of Pella have more of the air of a forgotten outpost than a major city. Yet, belied by the columns of the last remaining temple to stand on this windswept hillside, a vast ruined city still lies buried beneath the dirt of the Jordan Vally. Less than 30km south of the Sea of Galilee on the historic trade route to Jerash, this once-prosperous Greco-Roman city is now an atmospheric if lonesome ruin along an otherwise quiet stretch of motorway between the Jordan Valley and Ajloun. As you clamber over the remains of a small amphitheater, a Bronze-Age temple and a handful of excavated shops and homes, it’s tough to imagine Pella as a member of the Decapolis, a 10-member group of Roman cities that were instrumental in maintaining the empire’s control of the Levant region.
