Um er-Rasas (Kastrom Mefa'a)

A lone square tower rising from the Jordanian steppe once held a stylite monk — an ascetic who lived out his devotion high above the ground. It stands at Um er-Rasas, which began as a fortified Roman camp and grew into a Byzantine and early Islamic town of 16 churches; the mosaic pavement in the Church of Saint Stephen famously depicts the cities of the region. Largely unexcavated even now, the site was inscribed by UNESCO in 2004 as World Heritage.