Haret
Jdoudna
Madaba -
Jordan
Located in
the heart
of Madaba
and a mere
100 meters
from the
Church
housing
the famous
Mosaic
Map, this
early 20th
century
village
comprises:
-A
Restaurant
serving
both local
and
international
cuisine
-A Cafe
-A Fire
Wood Oven
Pizzeria
-A Maze of
Art &
Crafts
Shops
Haret
Jodoudna
Haret:
Loosely
mans court
or
neighborhood
Jdoudna:
Our
grandfather
or
ancestors
Roman
Madaba was
considered
the
foremost
city of
Mosaics in
the world.
Modern
Madaba
(located
30km south
of Amman)
was
established
by early
Arab
Christian
settlers
that
migrated
in the
early 19th
century
from Karak,
a town in
the south
of Jordan.
In 1995,
Zaid
Goussous,
a city
planner
turned
restaurateur,
teamed up
with
Ibrahim
Jumean, to
convert
this house
into a
"village"
of food
and
crafts.
The
southern
part of
the
restaurant
was built
in 1905
using the
cross
vault
construction
method
with stone
floor
"acquired"
at the
time from
the Roman
Road which
is 200
meters
away.
The
northern
part, with
a flat
roof, was
built in
1923.
It
features
colorful
terrazzo
tiles
imported
from
Haifa,
Palestine,
typical
floors of
the well
to do at
the time.
The
pizzeria
at the
front
entrance
features
an
original
Roman
column
complete
with its
capital
supporting
the entire
upper
floor
again
acquired
from
nearby
Roman
ruins
which are
so
bountiful
in Madaba.
Ibrahim
Jumean
(grandfather
of partner
Ibrahim)
who built
this house
was
Madaba's
first
mayor, his
son Adel
also
became
mayor.
King
Abdullah,
King
Hussein's
grandfather,
would
often
visit this
house for
respite en
route to
the south
during the
twenties
and
thirties.
The
northern
part of
the house
was used
both as
clinic and
residence
by Dr.
Hanna
Goussous
from
1328-1933.
Dr. Hanna
(Great
granduncle
of partner
Zaid), was
Jordan's
first
doctor
graduating
in 1910
from the
Jesuits
College -
Beirut,
and the
Sorbonne
in 1913.
The craft
shops were
recently
built
using
stone from
the same
site that
were once
homes for
other
Jumean
families,
the well
at the
bottom is
Roman.
There are
20 art and
craft
shops
producing
truly
Jordanian
traditional
products
such as
wood and
hem
chairs,
rug
weaving,
sand
bottles,
mosaic,
paintings,
and much
more.
A
Jordanian
team of
architects
and
interior
designers
collaborated
on Haret
Jdoudna
