Gadara

The Border Town

Gadara is the smallest of the seven Niuan cities, and it borders Bethlehem directly, hence its colloquial moniker: the border town. The entrance to Gadara is marked by a Golden arch that splits an otherwise unremarkable street, one end of which begins in Bethlehem, and the other in Gadara. Because of this, many Gadarans class themselves as Bethlehemians, and see little distinction between the two linked cities. What became Gadara, was the remnants of Solomon’s “Garden of New Life”, built a short distance from the Palace of David, prior the completion of the gravity stabilisers that would enable surface living. The garden was built over a period of five years, and was intended to serve as a reminder of what the often reticent Niuan population were striving for. Visible from the upper floors of the palace, “The Garden of New Life” promised a better future for his people, and it was a promise that Solomon’s successor would eventually see met. When surface living became possible, the Niuan population exploded, and Bethlehem grew almost overnight. The now common grid structure seen in the capital gobbled up all the surrounding land until it bordered the Garden, which rather than be consumed, was heralded as a separate district, renamed, and made habitable. Because of its jumbled history, some regard Gadara, and not Bethlehem, as the oldest true city on Niua, but due to its retrospective assignation of official status this is not technically correct.


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