| 05 Mar 2010 |
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Revamped Citadel expected to draw more local visitors
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AMMAN - Tourism officials are hoping that more Jordanians will visit the Citadel (Jabal Al Qalaa) this year after the site's facilities were upgraded in an extensive renovation and rehabilitation project.
The overhaul, conducted last year by the Ministry of Tourism, the Greater Amman Municipality and the USAID-Jordan Tourism Development Project, was designed to make the site more visitor-friendly and turn it into a major tourist attraction that would draw more local visitors.
Although the Citadel is located in the centre of Amman, local visitors hardly used to visit it, according to Shan Tsay, the site's manger.
"Visitors are usually schoolchildren, and families seldom visit the site," she told reporters during a media tour this week organised by the ministry.
According to official figures, 16,100 Jordanians visited the Citadel in 2008 compared to 143,600 foreigners, while in 2009 the figure stood at 16,800 Jordanians and 174,300 foreigners.
Tsay noted that the ministry will launch a campaign to increase the number of local tourists, who can enter the site with a 150-fils ticket compared to JD2 for non-Jordanians.
"We still have no accurate figures for the first months of this year, but preliminary indicators show that there has been an increase, especially after we finished the renovation of the area," she said, adding that there is also a plan to involve the local community in the promotion process and in raising awareness of the historical importance of the Citadel.
At the entrance to the Citadel, visitors now have a place to rest in a 100-square-metre centre with restroom facilities and a refreshments stand, before ascending the hill, which showcases a comprehensive history of the civilisations that inhabited the area from 8,000BC to the end of the Ottoman era.
Past the visitors gateway, four marble blocks have been placed, inscribed with information about the history of Amman and the site, to prepare the visitor for the various historical icons they are about to see.
Beneath the names given to the capital during different eras - Amman, Philadelphia and Rabbath Ammon - the blocks are inscribed with descriptions of the civilisations and empires that inhabited the city in each era.
At the end of their journey, visitors will have the opportunity to tour the "Amman Museum", which showcases the over 10,000-year history of the seven-hilled city through artefacts relevant to the capital and its development over the centuries.
Relics from other parts of the country, such as Karak and Aqaba, currently on display at the museum, will be returned to their places of origin in an effort to encourage a sense of local ownership of the country's ancient heritage.
© Jordan Times 2010
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