“This town was so devoted to mosaic art that its archaeological park preserves entire ancient floors carpeted in stone pictures.”
About Madaba Archaeological Park
The park was created to conserve and display the mosaics uncovered in Madaba, a Byzantine-era town celebrated for its mosaic workshops. It encloses the remains of churches and houses with their original floors, including the Hippolytus Hall with its mythological scenes and the Church of the Virgin. The collection demonstrates the high artistic standard and the Greco-Roman and Christian themes of Madaba's craftsmen.
The Madaba Archaeological Park gathers some of the finest ancient mosaics in the city often called the 'City of Mosaics', preserving in situ the mosaic floors of Byzantine churches and Roman-era buildings. Sheltered walkways lead visitors over and around these intricate works of art, displaying the craft that made Madaba famous in the ancient world.
Sheltered walkways lead visitors over and around these intricate works of art, displaying the craft that made Madaba famous in the ancient world.
A City Floored in Art
Madaba was a renowned centre of mosaic art in the Byzantine period, and the archaeological park protects a concentration of its masterpieces where they were found. Highlights include the mosaics of the Church of the Virgin and the Hippolytus Hall, the latter depicting scenes from Greek mythology alongside personifications of cities and the seasons. Together with the nearby Madaba Map, they reveal a town whose floors were carpeted in extraordinary stone pictures.
The Experience
You follow raised walkways through the protected site, looking down on detailed mosaic floors depicting mythological figures, hunting and pastoral scenes, cities, flowers and geometric patterns, all in coloured stone. Interpretive signs explain the imagery and history. The park offers a concentrated, well-presented immersion in the mosaic art for which Madaba is famous, complementing the celebrated map in Saint George's Church.
Why It Matters
The Madaba Archaeological Park preserves a remarkable body of Byzantine mosaic art and illuminates the cultural life of an ancient town where art, mythology and faith met underfoot. It is central to Madaba's identity as the City of Mosaics and a key site for appreciating this exquisite ancient craft.
The Madaba Archaeological Park preserves a remarkable body of Byzantine mosaic art and illuminates the cultural life of an ancient town where art, mythology and faith met underfoot.
Why Visit
A concentration of Madaba's finest ancient mosaics preserved in place, including mythological scenes, in the city known as the City of Mosaics.
✦ Insider Tips
- 1
See the Hippolytus Hall mosaics with their mythological scenes.
- 2
Follow the walkways over the in-situ mosaic floors.
- 3
Read the interpretive signs to decode the imagery.
- 4
Combine it with the Madaba Map nearby.
