Hippolytus Hall
Phaedra, Aphrodite and three cities.
Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mohammad hajeer — CC BY 4.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0
A park of ruins in central Madaba holding some of the town's finest mosaics along a stretch of its Roman street. Its eastern part centres on the Hippolytus Hall of an early 6th-century mansion and the round Church of the Virgin Mary built over it later that century; a few steps west lie the Burnt Palace and the 6th-century Church of the Martyrs. The church floor was found under a house in 1887 and part of the hall's in 1905; after the state acquired the plot in 1979, the Franciscan archaeologist Michele Piccirillo uncovered the rest of the Hippolytus mosaic in 1982. From 1991 the tourism ministry, the American Center of Oriental Research and USAID made the quarter a park, opened in 1995, with Ammar Khammash's stone shelter over the hall and church. Walkways cross the Hippolytus mosaic: the Seasons in the corners, Phaedra and her maids from Euripides' tragedy, Aphrodite enthroned beside Adonis, and three women personifying Rome, Gregoria and Madaba. The church floor above, probably of 767, has a verse medallion bidding those who gaze on Mary to purify mind, body and deeds. Across the Roman street, the ruined Church of the Prophet Elias (607–08) sits over the older Crypt of St Elianus (595–96), and walkways in the Burnt Palace pass hunting scenes and a lion attacking a bull. The park is about 200 metres south-east of the Madaba Map Church (St George's) and 500 metres north of the Church of the Apostles, so the three make an easy walking tour; Mount Nebo is about 9 km north-west.
Phaedra, Aphrodite and three cities.
A round church and a verse to Mary.
A lion attacking a bull in mosaic.
Downtown Madaba, near the Madaba Visitors Centre
Madaba Map ChurchAn Orthodox church in the centre of Madaba whose floor holds the oldest known ma3 minutes walk4.3
Shrine of the Beheading of St John the Baptist (Madaba)A Roman Catholic church on the highest point of Madaba's old town, known locally3 minutes walk
Church of the Apostles (Madaba)A Byzantine church on the southern edge of Madaba with one of the city's largest6 minutes walkYes. The same 3 JD ticket gets you into the Madaba Archaeological Museum and the Church of the Apostles, both a short walk away; the Madaba Map Church (St George's) and the Church of St John the Baptist charge their own fees and are not covered by the Jordan Pass.
A fire destroyed the house in the mid-8th century, possibly during the great earthquake of that era, and left the thick deposits of ash that excavators found there.