Built by Umayyad Caliphs as a hunting lodge, Hisham's Palace is one of the finest examples of early Islamic architecture. A complex of residential quarters, baths, mosques and colonnaded courts with spectacular mosaics and stucco (plastered) ornaments, this winter palace was initially thought to have been built by the 10th Umayyad Caliph, el-Hisham Ibn Abd el-Malik (724-743 AD). Later much of the credit was given to Hisham's spoilt nephew and successor, Caliph el-Walid ibn el-Yazid II (743-744 AD). The palace was destroyed in an earthquake in 749 AD, almost 5 years after it was built. The site was only uncovered twelve centuries later, when British archaeologists located them in 1937, hidden beneath sand. Many of the archaeological findings from the place are now displayed in the Rockefeller Museum of Jerusalem. Today, the highlights of the venue are 1) the monumental hexagonal star-shaped stone sculpture 2) the fabulous mosaic of a lion catching a gazelle in front of a large tree and 3) the magnificient bathhouse complex.
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