Al Husn
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| Al Husn | |
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  Al Husn
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| Coordinates: 32°27′N 35°37′E / 32.45°N 35.617°E | |
| Country |  Jordan |
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| Governorate | |
Al Husn (Arabic: الحصن, also Romanized as Al Husn, Al Husun, Hisn and Husn)is a town in northern Jordan, located 65 km north of Amman, and about 7 km south of Irbid. It has a population of 33,000. The region has fertile soil which along with the moderate climate allows the growing of high quality crops. Al Husn was known for its wine; now its main products are wheat and olive oil. Al Husn is registered in Jordanian government documents under the name Al Husun, and it is the administrative center of the Bani Obaid district.
[edit] History
Al Husn is one of the possible sites of Dion, a city dating from when the Romans occupied northern Jordan. The Decapolis cities (a ten-city Greco-Roman federation, or league, created under Pompey the Great about 64-63 BCE), according to Pliny the Elder (CE 23-79) were: Scythopolis (Bet She'an), Hippos (Susieh), Gadara (Umm Qais), Pella (Tabaqat Fahl), Philadelphia (Amman), Gerasa (Jerash), Dion, Kanatha (Kanawat), Damascus, and Raphana (Abila).
Al Husn has one of the oldest Orthodox churches in Jordan, Built in the second century, but destroyed in 1680 AD by the Ottoman Army, and then rebuilt in 1886 by the local Christians. Al Hisn along with fuhais still have a high percentage of Christians.
In 1906 a famous German traveler called Seetzen arrived in Husun and became a guest of AlShaikh Abdallah Al-Ghanma. This traveler narrates in his book that he wrote about his travels in the east, that when he got to AlHusun Pond he asked about the town’s Shaikh and was directed to Abdalla’s resident, so he stayed with the shaikh for two weeks.
In 1812 a swiss tourist arrived to Husun. He was Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, discoverer of Petra, and he also became a guest of Shaikh Abdallah Ghanma for ten days. The two travelers wrote about their stay in Husun and about their host, a wonderful talk full of complements, appreciation and respect.
[edit] Sights
Al Husn is famous for its Roman-era artificial hill, situated in the northern part of the town, referred to by locals as "Al-Taal". The Taal used to be the property of the Nusairat family; it was at another time taken over by the Jordanian government. Local legend says there are "castle ruins" or a Byzantine church underneath which gave the town its name ("Husn" means "castle" in Arabic). The hill is approximately 200 meters high and 800 meters in diameter.
Other sights include the Roman Pool.
[edit] Famous people from Al Husn
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