Sightseeing in Amman - the Roman theatres

My sister, her daughter, and I followed our plan and almost left the house on time! We ran 1 errand (moms always have errands to run, don't they?) and then headed to downtown Amman to the Roman theatre there. We didn't go on a guided tour, so if you'd like more information, please go to http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/jordan/amman/th01.html/amman/th01.html. You can get lots of great info there and better pictures than I have. I had a slight camera snafu, but I have some pictures.

Picture above: To the right is a nice, hilly park filled with trees, tables and chairs for people to enjoy. It must be filled to overflowing during the cool evenings. (Sorry, no pics.) The entrances to the large and small theatres are to the left of the wall you can see in the far left.

The left side of the ruins hosts the smaller amphitheatre (next 3 pics). This theatre was built by the Romans in the late 2nd century AD. The lower seats of this monument, which could accommodate up to 500 spectators, have been restored and it is used occasionally for concerts.

I enjoyed this little amphitheatre as much as the large one. Both were very neat! As to the camera snafu, I thought I'd taken quiet a few more pics on my digital camera than I did, so you just don't get too many pics! Better luck on my next outing.

We're pretty sure that the large theatre (pictured below) was built during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (169-177 AD). The large and steeply raked theatre could seat about 6,000 people. It is built into the hillside, and oriented north to keep the sun off the spectators. It was amazing being in such an amazing ruin. It is so acoustically sound that if you stand in the centre of the front area and speak in a normal voice, you can be heard all the way to the top of the theatre!

The left-most picture is the colonade that was (and partly still is) in front of the large amphitheatre. The other 2 pics are of the theatre itself. The middle one is just one side of the theatre. I couldn't get the whole thing in my camera frame!

We were very bad girls and forgot both sunscreen and hats, so we're both a little pink in the face, but we're all right. We were HOT, but had a good time! I'll post about the citadel/palace tomorrow. Time for bed!