Umm Qais (Arabic: أم قيس) is a town in Jordan located on the site of the ruined Hellenistic-Roman city of Gadara, a semi-autonomous city of the Roman Decapolis. The site of Gadara can align both textually and geographically with the biblical account of how Jesus healed the demoniacs and cast the demons into a herd of swine which ran into the sea of Galilee.
Umm Qais is known for its beautiful views over the Palestinian countryside, overlooking Lake Tiberius and the Golan Heights, claimed by and recognized as Syria, but under Israeli occupation since 1967. Since approximately two-thirds of Jordanians can claim Palestinian descent, Umm Qais has recently emerged as a pilgrimage site for Jordanians yearning for a glimpse of their former homeland.
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