The Impact of Circassian Culture on the Urban Growth of Wadi Al-Sir District in Amman City

Abstract

Abstract

During the nineteenth century, Circassian immigration had posed an important factor that affected the urbanization of Wadi Al-Sir in Jordan and its development from living in caves and heritage ruins, to its founding as a small Circassian village ending up with expanding into a district. Circassians adapted the local environment successfully to transform the area into a vital urban space that fulfilled people’s needs. This paper aims to investigate the impact of migrating cultures on the urban growth of Jordan. It highlights the first migrating people to Jordan from The Caucasus (The Circassians) and studies their impact on the urban growth of Wadi Al-Sir, where they first settled and adapted different methods to cope with the new place and add new inputs to the urban fabric of the region. A descriptive and analytical approach was used in this paper. A comparison between Circassian architecture in Caucasus and Jordan is carried out in this research as well. A number of conclusions clarify the role of Circassians upon Wadi Al-Sir architecture.