As-Salt

As-Salt
Photo in the Public Domain.

As-Salt - The Place of Tolerance and Urban Hospitality represents the city’s ‘Golden Age’ period (1860s to 1920s).

In the late Ottoman period the town saw an influx of traders from Nablus, Syria and Lebanon and it transformed into a thriving trade city. Architecturally elegant buildings were constructed, built in a mix of Ottoman tradition and the Nablusi style with honey-coloured local stone. Both Christian and Muslim communities lived here.

Community Perspective: The best place to start is the Historical Old Salt Museum in Abu Jaber House, which is probably the most famous expression of the new architectural style. Overall, As-Salt with its parked cars and open cables certainly isn’t a photogenic city. Both reviewers found it hard to understand the OUV. On its long way to the inscription, the focus moved from the Arab eclectic architecture (as described by Wojciech) to “urban hospitality”.

1 Locations 2 Reviews 27 Ratings 16 Connections 57 Visitors

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Philipp Peterer

Switzerland - 01-Sep-21 -

As-Salt by Philipp Peterer

Visit May 19. On my short trip to the northern part of Jordan I visited some great TWHS, like Jerash or Umm al-Jimal. And I visited As-Salt.

I parked my car near the town hall and went to the Archeological Museum. There I got a poorly copied map of the most important buildings related to the WHS. I spent my time hunting down these buildings.

As-Salt is certainly not a city that lets your jaw drop. What Unesco describes as “a blend of European Art Nouveau and Neo-Colonial styles combined with local traditions” were to me rather boring square buildings. The oldest part of the city is not unpleasant, but also not outstanding. Certainly it is not photogenic city. The cars, narrow streets, open cables and lack of real highlights make it hard to get some good shots. Maybe if you find a good guide that can explain the value of the city on site, you get a more satisfying visit. For me, this was absolutely no highlight in a country I otherwise quite like.

As-Salt is very close to Amman. You can easily squeeze it in on your way to the Baptism WHS.

Wojciech Fedoruk

Poland - 13-Mar-17 -

As-Salt by Wojciech Fedoruk

Nowadays As-Salt is nothing more but a satellite city of Amman agglomeration. But until the First World War it was a serious rival of current Jordanian capital. It faced substantial growth particularly in the end of XIXth century, when many wealthy families from the land now called West Bank moved to As-Salt. During this time a Palestinian architect Abdel-Rahman Aqruq formed a new style calle „Arab eclecticism”. As the name suggests, the style was a mix: arabic tradition and european styles (classicism and (neo)gothic are clearly visible, so do secession elements). That style spread over the whole Middle East, which was these days united under Ottoman Empire. Given the importance of this movement, As-Salt will attempt inscription on World Heritage List in 2017.

I visited As-Salt driving from UNESCO site of Bethany beyond the Jordan to Amman. I had very limited time there and the weather was awful so the circumstances were not pleasant. Moreover, it was Friday and the Historical Old Salt Museum was closed. The museum is located in Abu Jaber House, which is probably the most famous expression of the new architectural style. Fortunately, tourist information was open and I was provided with maps proposing several different city walks, such es 'educational' or 'harmony' trail. Although they are interesting, none of them is exactly related to the potential iscription as a WHS. However, the most important buildings in the old town are supported with a plaque describing interesting facts and showing the distance to the next interesting building. Most of them are located on or near Hamman street. I imagine that if As-Salt's nomination is successful, some of these plaques will just get UNESCO sign.

Although As-Salt is quite nice and is doing its best to attract tourists, the (potential) outstanding universal value of the place is not easy to understand – I even had a problem to choose one interesting photo to illustrate my review. Even after inscription it would rather not become one the top tourist attractions in Jordan.

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Site Info

Full Name
As-Salt: The Place of Tolerance and Urban Hospitality
Unesco ID
689
Country
Jordan
Inscribed
2021
Type
Cultural
Criteria
2 3
Categories
Urban landscape - Arabic and Middle Eastern
Link
By ID

Site History

2021 Inscribed

2020 Incomplete - not examined

As: As-Salt: The Place of Tolerance and Urban Hospitality

2017 Deferred

2017 Advisory Body overruled

ICOMOS suggested Not Inscribe. Overturned by amendment of Turkey to Deferral.

2015 Revision

Successor to former TWHS Old City of Salt (2004)

1994 Deferred

Bureau - require 1990 action plan to be adopted

Site Links

Unesco Website
As-Salt: The Place of Tolerance and Urban Hospitality
Official Website

Visit Jordan: As-Salt

Related

The Story of As-Salt

Master Thesis on Cultural Landscape of As-Salt

Locations

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As-Salt

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Art and Architecture
Art Nouveau: A number of the 19th-century residences in the nominated property exhibit a blend of European Art Nouveau and Neo-Colonial styles (AB ev)
Vernacular architecture: a mixture of vernacular regional and high-style architecture (AB ev)
Glazed tiles: Other typical materials include glazed ceramic tiles (AB ev)
Reinforced Concrete: Reinforced concrete post & beam frame houses are cited as one of the contemporary architectural types in As-Salt. (nom file p40)
Constructions
Hospitals: Located on the Haddadin Steps overlooking Al Ain Plaza, the English Hospital was considered the only hospital in the region of Trans-Jordan in the second half of the 19th century (nom file p29)
Tombs: In the town of as-Salt and its environs are several Muslim shrines at the traditional tombs of the prophets Shu'ayb, Ayyoub, Yusha and Jadur, the Arabic names of the biblical characters Jethro, Job, Joshua and Gad. (wiki)
History
Ottoman Empire: As-Salt was a prominent frontier Ottoman trading centre between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries (AB ev)
Fusion: The significant architecture within the historic city core emerged as a result of cultural exchange and circulation. The circulation of images, architectural types, building techniques and materials culminated in a cultural exchange that supported a new urban lifestyle new to As-Salt fused with local tribal/urban customs of urban hospitality and support and symbiosis between Muslim and Christian residents of the city. This is not only the circulation of architectural types, images, building techniques; but also the circulation of Modernity art such as the circulation of Art Nouveau paintings. (nom file p34)
Located in a Former Capital: As-Salt was the capital of Transjordan before this was moved to Amman. (AB Ev)
Religion and Belief
Protestantism: An Anglican Church was built in 1867 (AB ev)
Christian Churches in non Christian countries: French missionaries built the Roman Catholic Church (known locally as Latin Church) in 1869-70 -> 4% Christians in Jordan (wiki)
Greek Orthodox churches outside Greece: As-Salt has several Greek Orthodox churches: St. George's Church-Al Khader Church, Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, Church of the Saviour-Church of the Lady Sarah (nom file p72)
Mosque: One prominent example which demonstrates the Ottoman diligence and interest in building mosques in the region is the building of the Small Mosque (Al-Jami' Al-Saghir) which was completed in 1907. It was built by the famous Nablusi master builder 'Abd al Rahman Al-'Aqruq and was located (...) very close to the main Sahet Al Ain at the center of the town. (Nomination text, p. 54)
Timeline
Built in the 19th Century: Golden Age of As-Salt’s development between 1860s to 1920s. (AB ev)
Trivia
Epic Subtitles: The Place of Tolerance and Urban Hospitality
World Heritage Process
Name changes: From "The Old City of As-Salt" over "As-Salt Eclectic Architecture (1865-1925), Origins and Evolution of an Architectural Language in the Levant" to the current name. (AB Ev)

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