Downtown Amman

Downtown Amman (Arabic: وسط البلد, romanized: Wasat Al-Balad) is the old town of Jordan's capital, Amman. Nestled in a narrow valley called Wadi Amman, the downtown is a popular tourist destination, known for its shopping souks and ancient ruins.

The Amman valley, surrounded by valleys, was historically crossed by the Seil stream. In the first millennium BC, the Ammonites settled atop a hill overlooking the valley. During the second century AD, the city - then known as Philadelphia - flourished under Roman rule, with landmarks such as a theater, an Odeon, and a Nymphaeum being built near the Seil. In the seventh century AD, an Umayyad mosque was built near a marketplace, later replaced by the Grand Husseini Mosque.

Following the modern resettlement of Amman by Circassians in the late 19th century, areas near the Seil, particularly the Shabsough and Al-Muhajireen, became one of the first to be inhabited, developing into agricultural communities. The inauguration of a Hejaz Railway station in 1904 attracted immigration from neighboring Levantine cities, turning the area into a merchant hub. As the city grew, new neighborhoods expanded up the surrounding hills, connected to the valley by stairs.

After the designation of Amman as Jordan's capital in 1921, the city witnessed further expansion to the surrounding hills, such as the Jabals of Amman, Luweibdeh, and Joufeh. This trend increased after the 1927 earthquake, and the receiving of several waves of refugees starting in 1948, rapidly expanding the city towards the west. In the 1960s, the Amman Municipality roofed the historical Seil, which forms today's Quraysh Street. Owing to the area's topography, the downtown is susceptible to major flash floods, including ones that occurred in 2013 and 2019. Ruins of a Roman bath were uncovered during infrastructure works in 2021, leading to speculations that much of ancient Amman still lies beneath the downtown area.