The Roman Church of the Prophet Isaiah is located in the ancient city of Jerash, giving it a distinct religious tourist character.
Jerash, which was known in the past as “Gerasa” or the City of a Thousand Columns, is considered one of the tourist trail areas and there is a church complex that includes the largest bishopric and 23 churches that narrate Byzantine and Greek history, and are decorated with mosaics that exist until now.!.
The tourist reaches the church by passing through the city's main Column Street, which is about one kilometer long. It is paved with tiles on both sides and contains 71 marble columns.
Based on the religious importance of Jerash, the Greek Orthodox Archbishopric held the Divine Liturgy service in the Roman Church of the Prophet Isaiah in Jerash, after many decades of the Roman-Byzantine era had passed, on 6/29/2024.
His Eminence Bishop Christoforos, the Greek Orthodox Bishop of Jordan, presided over the Divine Liturgy service in the Roman Church of the Prophet Isaiah, with the participation of a number of venerable priests and the official presence of a representative of the Ministry of Tourism and people from various regions of the Kingdom.
The Bishop’s speech came to clarify
The Roman-Byzantine history of the ancient city of Jerash and the many churches spread within it, and the lives of the fathers and grandfathers who built these holy churches, whose prayers were offered day and night from within them.
His Excellency spoke about the number of churches that were discovered in the city of Jerash, which amounted to more than twenty-three churches named after many Jordanian prophets and saints, including Saints Cosmas and Damianus, for whom there is a church built in their honor inside the archaeological city.
His Excellency said that there is official interest and care at the highest level in religious tourism to the Holy Land of Jordan, and facilities for holding the Divine Liturgy service in these ancient churches to remember the status of our local saints who lived here and to return with them to the roots of our fathers and our existential identity as Christians of this holy country, according to His Excellency the Bishop.
Holding the Divine Mass in Jerash aims to restore spiritual life in the Roman archaeological areas and also to increase the number of visitors to the ancient city of Jerash to receive blessings from the honorable churches.
The Church of Isaiah the Prophet was built in 599 AD according to a mosaic inscription found inside it, as is the case in the neighboring churches that were built in the same time period.
The church was built using stones taken from previous Roman structures. The nave was separated from the temple by rows of Ionic columns, which were likely taken from the main colonnaded street (the Cardo).
The mosaic floor of the church is considered rich in historical information that was not recorded on papers, and a large part of it remained preserved in good condition and has unique inscriptions in the ancient Greek language. It was subjected to several attacks during the Iconoclast in the eighth century AD.
The main facade of the church was located on the western side, and included a courtyard leading to the three front entrances, the doors of which were built later after the main entrance was transferred to the southern side, where another courtyard
