Jerash Cathedral (Cathedral of St. Mary) in

Jerash Jerash (; , , ) is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located 30.0 miles north of the capital city Amman. The earliest evidence of sett ...

, Jordan, now in ruins, was built on the site of a former Roman temple.

Construction

Jerash Cathedral was raised in the 4th century on the ruin of the Roman temple to

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

, which itself was built on the site of a temple to

Dushara Dushara (Nabataean Arabic: 𐢅𐢈𐢝𐢛𐢀 ''dwšrʾ''), also transliterated as Dusares or Dhu Shara, is a pre-Islamic Arabian god worshipped by the Nabataeans at Petra and Madain Saleh (of which city he was the patron). Safaitic inscripti ...

, the Nabataean god of the royal house. The remains of the Roman temple were removed to the level of the podium shortly before the start of construction of the new building of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

, and its architectural elements, such as columns, were reused as material for the masonry of the church. Named Cathedral of St. Mary, the ruins are shown in the black and white images which show the entrance to the cathedral compound and the main avenue and the forum.

Other churches in Jerash

While

(or Gerasa) is best known for its extensive number of churches, many are of impressive size. Most date from the 5th and 6th centuries and are basilican in plan.

References

{{coord, 32.28056, 35.89164, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:JO, display=title Jerash Cathedrals in Jordan Temples of Dionysus