Aqaba is a Jordanian port city on the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba. It's home to the Islamic-era Aqaba Fort. Aqaba beach resorts are popular for windsurfing and other water sports, and the area is a top destination for scuba divers, with notable dive sites including the Yamanieh coral reef in the Aqaba Marine Park, south of the city.
Aqaba's strategic location has made its port important over thousands of years. The ancient city was called Elath, which was adopted in Latin as Aela and in Arabic as Ayla. The location of Aqaba next to Wadi Rum and Petra placed it in the Golden Triangle of tourism in Jordan, which strengthened the city's position on the world map and made it one of the most important tourist attractions in Jordan. The city is managed by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, which has transformed Aqaba into a city exempt from taxes and customs duties, and has attracted many mega projects such as Ayla Oasis, Saraya Aqaba, Marsa Zayed and the expansion of Aqaba Port. It is expected to turn the city into a major center for tourism in the region. However, industrial and commercial activities remain important, due to the city's strategic location as the country's only seaport. The city is located directly across the border from Eilat.
Aqaba History
Strategic location and proximity to copper mines made it a regional hub for copper production and trade in the Chalcolithic period. Ayla became a bishopric under Byzantine rule and later became a special seat of Latin Catholicism after the Muslim conquest around AD 650, excavations at Tell Hajirat al-Ghazal and Tell al-Majas, a few kilometers north of the modern era. With the prosperity of large-scale copper production. This period is largely unknown due to the lack of written historical sources. Archaeologists at the University of Jordan discovered these sites, where they found a small building whose walls were engraved with human and animal drawings, indicating that the building was used as a religious site. The people who inhabited the site had developed an extensive hydroponic system to irrigate their crops which consisted mostly of grapes, olives, and wheat. Numerous pottery vessels of various sizes were also found indicating that copper production was a major industry in the region, with pots being used for smelting and re-forming copper. Scientific studies conducted at the site revealed that it was subjected to two earthquakes, with the latter leaving the site completely devastated.
Aqaba Weather
In Aqaba, the summers are long, sweltering, arid, and clear and the winters are cool, dry, and mostly clear. Over the course of the year. The hot season lasts for 4.0 months,The cool season lasts for 3.1 months.
Best Restaurants:
Khubza & Seneya
This restaurant serves traditional cuisine with a modern touch
Al Shami Restaurant
Al Shami Restaurant is one of the restaurant that serves Local cuisine, Seafood, Mediterranean, Barbecue, Middle Eastern
Red Sea Grill
It serves fresh seafood with Fresh ingredients and a wonderful ambience. Highly recommended.
Romero Aqaba
One of Aqaba’s plushest restaurants, Romero sits within the Royal Yacht Club and features a menu to match its upscale surroundings. As is the case with the original location in Amman, Italian cuisine is at the heart of things, though Aqaba’s waterfront location means there’s also a fair amount of seafood and even sushi on offer. No matter how eclectic, all the food is exquisite, and the wine list is equally impressive. There are few better or more stylish places in Aqaba to dine while watching the sun set over the Red Sea.
Burj Al Hamam
Nothing is as authentically Lebanese as Bourj Al Hamam, a restaurant known throughout the region for fine Lebanese cuisine. Starters including Goat’s Cheese Salad, Hummus and Muhammara, and Lamb’s Tongue Salad are too tempting to pass up, especially for those with a healthy appetite. Raw lamb dishes are favorites on the entrée list, but the house specialty is the Sea Bass with Oil and Lemon.
Best Universities in Aqaba
- University of Jordan / Aqaba
- British University of Aqaba
- American University of Aqaba
Places you May visit in Aqaba
Aqaba Fortress
Aqaba Castle or Mamluk Castle is one of the most important tourist places in Aqaba, which is located on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba. The castle was founded in the fourteenth century during the Mamluk era, on the ruins of a former Crusader castle. Aqaba Castle was used as a stop for pilgrims heading to Mecca, and the castle had a prominent role during the First World War (1917 AD), from which the Great Arab Revolt was sparked. It also gained a special place, which increased its tourist importance.
Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum is located in the Aqaba Governorate in southern Jordan, and is 70 km away from the city. The place is characterized by the magical sunset view, and tourists can camp in the place for several days to enjoy the clear sky and the air free of pollutants.
Palm Beach
Aqaba has the most beautiful beaches overlooking the Red Sea. Al-Nakhil Beach or Al-Hafayer Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in Aqaba. It is surrounded by many ancient buildings and green gardens. Al-Nakheel Beach is located on the southern coast, and the distance between it and the city is only ten minutes. Along the coast.
Diving
The city of Aqaba overlooks the best coastal part of the Red Sea, where there is a picturesque coral menstruation, which is not found in all the beaches of the world, and it is a main source of tourism in Jordan, and a destination for tourists from around the world, in order to go on fun diving adventures, and therefore there are many centers Diving, as well as places for training beginners.
Aqaba Bird Observatory
The Aqaba Observatory is located in the north of the Red Sea, and it is one of the natural features in Aqaba that gives the visitor a sense of comfort, as the observatory receives large numbers of flocks of migratory birds every year, especially from Asia, Europe, and Africa, and statistics indicate that it attracts seventy different species of Birds, which come to him during the fall.
Aqaba Archaeological Museum
The Aqaba Museum is located near the historic Aqaba Castle, and includes many historical monuments that express the region, and the museum contains a large collection of Bronze Age antiquities that extend back to four thousand years BC, and it also contains many artifacts dating back to the seventh century. And even the twelfth, such as Fatimid coins, and Quranic writings.
Early Islamic city of Ayla
The Islamic city of Ayla is one of the Islamic places of historical importance in Jordan. The Islamic city of Ayla is located northwest of the center of the city of Aqaba and reflects the Islamic side of the city. Nearby is a church that was built in the seventh century AD, and thus is considered one of the oldest churches in the world.
Glass-bottom boat tours
Glass bottom boat tours are one of the tourist attractions in the city of Aqaba, where you can enjoy watching the coral menstruation in the Red Sea through glass boats, and it is an alternative to diving under water, and these boats are equipped with headphones that enable you to call it marine embryos, and the tour takes It has a duration of close to an hour.
Aqaba City Population ( 2020 Study )
Aqaba city population is around 95,048 based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data.
Jordan Major cities : Amman (The capital ) , Al Zarqa , Irbid , Jerash , Maan , Aqaba, Al Salt, Al Tafilah, Karak , Shobak, Wadi Mousa , Mafraq
Jordan Main Attractions : Petra , Wadi Rum, Dead Sea , Jerash , Ajloun, Umm Qais , Madaba, Mount Nebo , Al Karak castle , Al Shobak castle , Desert castles , Aqaba , Baptism site, Umm Al Jimal , Amman Citadel, Roman Theater