The Byzantine church
6th-century ruins in the garden.
Tarawneh — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Aseel Ahmad — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tarawneh — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tarawneh — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tarawneh — CC BY-SA 3.0
Darat al Funun, a home for the arts, is a centre for contemporary Arab art in restored 1920s and 1930s houses on Jabal al-Weibdeh, overlooking downtown Amman. Founded by the banker Khalid Shoman and his wife, the artist Suha Shoman, it opened in 1993; the Khalid Shoman Foundation has run it since 2002. Nimr Pasha al-Hmoud, mayor of As-Salt, began the main building in 1918. Until 1938 it was home to Frederick Peake, British commander of the Arab Legion, and T. E. Lawrence lived here for three months in 1921. Later a British officers' club and a girls' school, it stood empty from 1978 until 1992, when the architect Ammar Khammash began a light-touch restoration that left the chisel marks on its stone. Changing exhibitions fill the main building's three linked galleries, with a rooftop art library, while another house usually shows part of the Khalid Shoman Collection, which holds work by more than 140 Arab artists. In the southern garden lie the ruins of a 6th-century Byzantine church, possibly dedicated to St George, beside a cave once linked to al-Khadr; talks and concerts are held among the church's columns. A museum in Beit al Beiruti traces the centre's exhibitions, its houses and the church. The centre lies a short walk uphill from King Faisal Street downtown, or a few minutes from Paris Circle. The Amman Citadel crowns the next hill east, about 600 metres away as the crow flies, so a visit fits easily into a day in old Amman.
6th-century ruins in the garden.
Changing shows and the Khalid Shoman Collection.
A blue Circassian porch and shady courtyard.
13 Nadeem al-Mallah Street, Jabal al-Weibdeh, above downtown Amman
Amman CitadelThe highest of Amman's seven original hills, where every layer of the city stand7 minutes walk4.6
Rainbow StreetA single street in Jabal Amman between the First Circle and downtown, and the pl8 minutes walk4.4
Grand Husseini MosqueThe grand Friday mosque of downtown Amman and one of the city's oldest, at the h8 minutes walk
Roman TheatreA Roman theatre cut into the hillside in the middle of downtown, seating six tho11 minutes walk4.6
The Jordan MuseumJordan's national museum, holding two objects with no equal in any museum anywhe12 minutes walk4.3Saturday to Thursday from 10 am to 7 pm, and until 3 pm in Ramadan; it is closed on Fridays, on public holidays and for the whole of August.
Two inscriptions were recorded there in the early 20th century: one suggests the church may have been dedicated to St George, the other hints at an older Roman temple of Hercules on or near the site. The cave beside the church was linked to al-Khadr, who, like St George, is pictured as a horseman.