The Cardo Maximus — the main colonnaded street of ancient Gerasa — runs for about 800 metres through the heart of the site from the Oval Plaza in the south to the North Gate. Hundreds of columns line both sides, most still standing to full height, their bases on raised pavement that defined the covered walkway on either side of the main traffic lane.
The original stone paving is still in place and still uneven in the centre — the Roman engineers designed a slight ridge to channel rainwater into drains beneath. Walking the Cardo from south to north, you pass the intersections with the two Decumanus roads, the nymphaeum fountain house on the right, and the approach to the Temple of Artemis on the left. The scale of the street and the completeness of the colonnade make it one of the finest surviving examples of Roman urban planning anywhere in the world.