Let’s Never Settle

← All articles · Jordan · 17 February 2026

Amman, Jordan: The Madaba mosaic map, a bell tower and a plate of kunafa

Using Amman as a base for biblical Jordan: the sixth-century mosaic map at Madaba, the bell tower over its rooftops, and kunafa cut straight off the tray.

Amman makes a brilliant base for something you can’t do almost anywhere else: within an hour’s drive you can stand in two of the most significant places in the biblical world. Both of those day trips have their own stories now, Bethany Beyond the Jordan and Mount Nebo. This is everything else from that February 2026 week.

Photos from Madaba and Amman

Madaba is the mosaic town that sits between the two pilgrimage sites, so we kept passing through it, and it earns a stop of its own: the famous sixth-century map of the Holy Land covers the floor of St George's church.

Inga and Dileep outside the stone facade of St George's Greek Orthodox Church in Madaba, with black and gold doors — St George's Greek Orthodox Church in Madaba, the small church with a very big floor.

Amman after dark, lights, traffic and all. Watch on YouTube

The long version of an evening eating our way through downtown. Watch on YouTube

The sixth-century Madaba mosaic map of the Holy Land set into the church floor, with Greek place names in coloured tiles — The Madaba mosaic map: the oldest surviving map of the Holy Land, walked over gently since the sixth century.

The map itself, and the church it lives in. Watch on YouTube

A vivid fresco of the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, with John the Baptist on the bank and four angels watching — A fresco of the baptism inside the church. After standing at the river itself, it reads differently.

Getting there

Night view from a plane window over Amman, the dark wing above a grid of orange and white city lights — Amman at night from the window seat. The whole flight paid for itself in the last ten minutes.

A British Airways economy meal tray with a wrapped sandwich, a salad pot, an apple and blackberry crumble and a small bottle of red wine — The economy tray on the way out: sandwich, salad, crumble, and a bottle of red you could lose in a pocket.

Inga standing on the walkway above the baggage hall at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, carousels and passengers below her — Landed at Queen Alia just before midnight. Every trip starts like this, under strip lights, waiting on a belt.

More from St George's

Inside St George's Church in Madaba, looking up at the wooden gallery, the stone arcade and the painted vaults above — St George's is small, and every surface above eye level is painted.

A close view of the Madaba mosaic map floor showing the coastline, walled towns and Greek place names picked out in tiny stone tiles — A corner of the map, with the coast running off towards Egypt. Every one of those little towers is a real place.

A large framed mosaic panel outdoors in Madaba showing the apostles seated in a semicircle, worked in pale stone tiles — Madaba doesn't keep all its mosaics indoors. This one is propped in a garden by the road.

The Church of St John the Baptist, Madaba

A few streets from St George’s there’s a second church worth the entry: a bell tower you can climb, and old stone vaults underneath. That one has a story and a film of its own.

Eating our way round Amman

A local meal in Amman. Watch on YouTube

Inga squeezing a lemon over a black bowl of finely chopped tabbouleh on a restaurant table in Amman — Tabbouleh, and the correct amount of lemon, which is always more than you think.

A chef lifting a slice of pistachio-topped kunafa off a huge round tray onto a plate at a sweet shop in Amman — Kunafa cut straight off the tray. The pale layer underneath is cheese, and yes, it works.

Inga and Dileep sitting in a Bedouin-style booth in Amman lined with red and black striped cushions, a brass coffee set on a tray in front of them — Coffee in a majlis-style booth, cushions on every side. There are worse ways to end a day.

Two thousand years of history within an hour of the capital, and a mosaic town in the middle of it that plenty of people drive straight past. The films from the two big stops are in Bethany Beyond the Jordan and Mount Nebo, and the rest of Jordan runs on through Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea.

There’s more from this trip on our YouTube channel, we film the real sights and sounds, no fluff. You’ll also find us on TikTok and Instagram.

We stayed at the Amman Paradise Hotel.

Two things we booked ahead and would again: the Amman airport transfer into the city, because arriving at Queen Alia and haggling is nobody's idea of a good start, and the Madaba, Mount Nebo, the Baptism Site and the Dead Sea in a day, which is the efficient way to see all four without hiring a car.