Western slope of the Acropolis

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Gadara reached the peak of its development in Antonine (98 - 180 AD) and Severan periods (193 - 235 AD) with extensive construction programs. In the course of the expansion of the city to the west, magnificent public buildings were erected on the northwestern slope of the Acropolis (upper town).

Especially exposed was the western terrace, supported by vaults with a row of shops, on which a long market basilica stood in Roman times. In the Byzantine period, this had to give way to a three-aisled ecclesiastical basilica with a central building and a portico. On the other side of the Decumanus Maximus, opposite the western terrace, the substructure of the once monumental fountain of the nymphaeum can still be seen. To the south, the complex is bounded by the fairly well-preserved west theater, built of black basalt. More information in the photo tour.