The number of visitors to the Jordan Archaeological Museum during January and February of this year reached 48,252, including 28,629 foreign visitors and 19,623 Jordanians — marking a 57% increase compared with the same period last year.
According to preliminary official figures issued by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the number of visitors during the same two-month period last year stood at 30,739, including 19,116 Jordanians and 11,623 foreigners.
Citadel Cable Car Project
In October 2025, the government revealed details of the Citadel cable car project in the capital, stating that it will operate along two routes: from Amman Citadel to Jabal Al-Weibdeh, and from the Citadel to the Roman Theatre.
The government said the Citadel cable car project is intended to become a major tourism, investment, and economic attraction that will help revive central and eastern Amman, create job opportunities, and reinforce the status of old Amman as a significant tourist destination rooted in heritage, history, and community.
The project will be managed by Vision Amman with support from the Ministry of Tourism.
In October 2025, Chairman of the Greater Amman Municipality Committee, Yousef Al-Shawarbeh, stated that the cable car project is expected to cost 8 million Jordanian dinars and take approximately one and a half years to complete, with completion anticipated by the end of 2026 or the first quarter of the following year.
Historical Significance of the Site
Former Director General of the Department of Antiquities, Fadi Balawi, said that the Amman Citadel, one of the city’s seven hills, served as a center of governance and administration during the Iron Age, when the Ammonites made it their capital and named it Rabbath Ammon.
He noted that the site later underwent reconstruction under Ptolemy Philadelphus, who renamed it Philadelphia, meaning “city of brotherly love.” During the Roman era, the city flourished as one of the Decapolis cities, featuring public landmarks such as streets, theatres, plazas, baths, markets, and temples.
Balawi added that during the Umayyad era, Amman gained strategic importance, with the construction of a mosque and palace serving as administrative and political centers, alongside military facilities and a mint for Islamic coinage.
Among the most prominent landmarks at the Citadel are the Temple of Hercules, dating back to the second century AD (161–166 AD), three churches including the Byzantine Basilica built in 550 AD, the Umayyad Palace complex, the Columned Street, the mosque, the Archaeological Museum — Jordan’s first museum, established in 1951 — and the historic water reservoir.
