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For the crustacean genus Cardus, see Polychelidae.

Madaba map showing Roman Cardo in Jerusalem

In ancient Roman city planning, a cardo or cardus was a north-south-oriented street in cities, military camps, and coloniae. Sometimes called the cardus maximus, the cardo served as the center of economic life. The street was lined with shops, merchants, and vendors.

Most Roman cities also had a Decumanus Maximus, an east-west street that served as a secondary main street. Due to varying geography, in some cities the decumanus is the main street and the cardo is secondary, but in general the cardus maximus served as the primary road. The Forum was normally located at the intersection of the Decumanus and the Cardo.

The cardo was the "hinge" or axis of the city, derived from the same root as cardinal. The term 'cardus' is derived from the north-south line the augurs would draw when making the auspices.

Mural depicting Jerusalem Cardo

The Cardo in the Old City of Jerusalem is a good example. After the Jewish rebellion of 70 CE was crushed by Titus' troops, Jerusalem was renamed Colonia Aelia Capitolina, and a long colonnaded Cardo was built, running across the city from north to south.

In 1971, a plan for reconstructing the Roman Cardo was submitted by architects Peter Bogod, Esther Krendel and Shlomo Aronson. Their proposal relied heavily on the sixth century Madaba map, a mosaic map of Jerusalem found in 1897 in Madaba, Jordan. The Madaba Map clearly showed the Roman Cardo as the main artery through the Old City. Bogod, Krendel, and Aronson proposed the construction of a covered shopping arcade that would preserve the style of an ancient Roman street using contemporary materials. Their plan was based on the hope that archeologists would find remains of the southern end of the Cardo, an extension of the north-south Roman thoroughfare built during the Byzantine era (324 – 638).

Time was of the essence and mounting pressure to repopulate the Jewish Quarter led to the construction of a superstructure which allowed the residential buildings to be built while the archaeologists continued to work below. The project was 180 meters in total and was divided into eight sections to allow for construction teams to move quickly from one section to another depending on the needs of the archaeologists. By 1980, 37 housing units and 35 shops were built, incorporating archaeological finds such as a Hasmonean wall from the second century BCE and rows of Byzantine columns. The combination of old and new is also visible on the Street of the Jews, where the shops have been set into old vaults and the gallery is covered by an arched roof containing small apertures to allow for natural lighting.

Coordinates: 31°46'34.40"N 35°13'51.65"E

The excavations at Petra in Jordan have unearthed the remains of an ancient Roman city on the site, with the main feature of the city being a colonnaded cardo. The original road survives.

Spiral fluted columns

The Cardo Maximus of Apamea, Syria ran through the center of the city directly from North to South, linked the principal gates of the city, and was originally surrounded by 1200 columns with unique spiral fluting, each subsequent column spiraling in the opposite direction. The thoroughfare was about 1.85 kilometers long and 37 meters wide, as it was used for wheeled transport. The great colonnade was erected in the 2nd century and it was still standing until the 12th. The earthquakes of 1157 and 1170 demolished the colonnade. The cardo was lined on both sides with civic and religious buildings.

• Cardo Street on a Jerusalem photo portal
• Cardo Virtual Tour

Coordinates: 31°46′34.4″N 35°13′51.65″E / 31.776222, 35.2310139