One hour drive to the north of Amman Jarash or Gerasa is one of the most well-preserved sites of Roman architecture in the world outside of Italy. To this day, the streets are still paved, and the baths, theatres, public squares and arches are in exceptional condition. Within the surviving city walls, archaeologists have found ruins of settlements dating back to the Neolithic period, indicating human habitation at the site for more than 7,500 years. The city reached its zenith at the time of the Romans at the beginning of the third century AD, Jerash was also flourishing during the Umayyad era, but the earthquake in 749 AD destroyed some parts of the city.