Amman - Visitors to the Amman Citadel this summer will have a new experience.
A site management plan entails the establishment of a visitors centre and a new package of services. The makeover is being coordinated by the Department of Antiquities (DoA), the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project.
When drafting the plan in late 2007, the number one concern for DoA and shareholders was the extensive number of events held at the Umayyad Castle, which was refurbished with the aid of Spanish Cooperation Agency and is still "very fragile".
"We don't want to lose all the hard work that has been done," DoA head Fawwaz Khraysheh told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.
In order to preserve the structure, the department and GAM have this year relocated permitted events to the nearby and outdoor Hellenistic Temple, with plans to stop licensing concerts and other festivities within the hilltop's archaeological sites by the end of the year.
"Our priority is to conserve, then restore," Khraysheh said, noting that the strategy aims to preserve the site and open its doors to visitors and citizens.
However, people will be allowed to celebrate at the historic site. But wedding parties and other festivities will be transferred to a large field east of the Citadel overlooking the Roman Amphitheatre, instead of the site's more sensitive components.
According to the official, support for tourist businesses and cafés around the area is an element of the plan, which will also see new paths signposted in both English and Arabic to better manage tourist flow and provide a more comprehensive experience.
The new visitors centre will be built on a plot east of the site away from the ruins, to organise visitor entry and facilitate larger tour groups without threatening the area's archaeological integrity.
The new facility, expected to be finished later this year, will feature an interpretation room, refreshments counter and restrooms to cater for the hundreds of visitors who flock to the hilltop citadel each day.
Also on the drawing board is a plan to renovate the Amman Citadel Museum, which currently holds a cluster of ancient items from across the Kingdom.
"The building was fine for the 1950s, but now its time for a modern museum," the DoA chief said, noting the space has lost its coherence.
According to Khraysheh, GAM has allotted a storage warehouse for the department to transfer artefacts from the Amman Citadel to be stored and catalogued. The DoA will then utilise the new place on the lower floor of the museum, with potential plans including a gift shop or a forum for cultural or educational events.
The new renovated structure will become an Amman museum, showcasing the history of the seven-hill city from 8000BC to the end of the Ottoman rule, in an effort to present artefacts relevant to the capital and its development over the centuries.
After restoring much of the site's southern wall last year, the department is carrying out renovations to the eastern wall, and work is under way to restore a large portion of the southern gate, which was once a towering gateway to a path linking the site with the Roman Amphitheatre down below.
"This was once a great structure, and we want to restore a part of it to show visitors and Amman residents how great and expansive the Citadel once was," he noted.
"These are gifts from our ancestors and we have to keep them for our children," he said.
By Taylor Luck
© Jordan Times 2009
