Umm Qays

The site of ancient Gadara, a major Greco-Roman Decapolis city in northeastern Jordan overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Founded in the Hellenistic period, it fell to the Seleucids in 218 BC before Roman general Pompey restored it in 63 BC. The city flourished during the 2nd-3rd centuries CE, earning comparison to "a new Athens." Remains include a 3,000-seat basalt theater, a 1.5 km colonnaded street, baths, and Byzantine churches. A catastrophic earthquake in 747 CE devastated the city.