Wender·Vista
Aqaba
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileJordan
at the head of the Red Sea, where Jordan meets the water

Aqaba

— — a desert town with coral at the doorstep.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Jordan's one window on the sea, a small port city at the very top of the Red Sea where four countries' coastlines come within sight of each other. The mountains of the Wadi Rum run down to the water in red and dust-gold; the reef begins thirty feet offshore. Petra is an hour and a half north. The Mamluk fort by the corniche has watched the Hejaz route since the 1500s.

from the studio
Aqaba
— bring it home

Aqaba, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Aqaba

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Aqaba is Jordan's only seaport and its only coastal city, set at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba where the Sinai meets the Arabian Peninsula. Around 148,000 people live here, in a flat strip between the Red Sea and the granite of the Hejaz mountains. From the corniche you can see Eilat in Israel directly across the bay, Egypt's Taba to the west, and the Saudi shoreline running south. The city is the southern terminus of the King's Highway and the practical gateway to Wadi Rum, 60 kilometres inland.

— informed by Wikipedia · Aqaba
— the water

The Gulf of Aqaba is a deep, narrow finger of the Red Sea — over 1,800 metres deep at its centre — and its corals sit closer to shore than at almost any reef in the world. Many of the Aqaba dive sites begin within twenty metres of the beach. The Aqaba Marine Park, established in 1997, protects seven kilometres of the coast. The water stays between 20 and 27°C through the year, warm enough to snorkel in February. Visibility commonly runs past 25 metres on a settled day.

— the stone

The Aqaba Fort, also called the Mamluk Castle, sits at the south end of the corniche behind a square plan of dressed sandstone and crenellated walls. The fortress in its present form was built by the last Mamluk sultan, Qansuh al-Ghuri, around 1510 to protect pilgrims on the Hejaz route to Mecca. T. E. Lawrence and the forces of the Arab Revolt took the city from the Ottomans in July 1917, an action commemorated by the flagpole at the fort — at 130 metres, briefly the tallest in the world.

— where
Jordan · Aqaba, Aqaba Governorate
— position
29.5267° N · 35.0078° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
60 km NE
Wadi Rum
desert wilderness
125 km N
Petra
Nabataean ruin city
1 km S
Aqaba Fort
Mamluk castle
N
Aqaba
Wadi Rum
Petra
Aqaba Fort
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Aqaba — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Aqaba sits at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba in southern Jordan. It is the country's only coastal city, with about 148,000 residents.

Snorkelling and scuba diving on fringing coral reefs that start a short swim from shore. The Aqaba Marine Park and the deliberately sunk C-130 Hercules and Cedar Pride wrecks are the most-visited sites.

Petra is about 125 kilometres north of Aqaba — roughly two hours by car along the Desert Highway, or longer and more scenic by the King's Highway. Many visitors base in Aqaba and day-trip up.

The current fortress dates to roughly 1510, built by the Mamluk sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri to protect Mecca-bound pilgrims. Earlier fortifications on the site go back to the Crusader period and a Byzantine settlement before that.

Forces under Auda abu Tayi and T. E. Lawrence captured Aqaba from the Ottomans on 6 July 1917, attacking overland from the desert rather than by sea — the action depicted in Lawrence of Arabia.

Hot desert. Summers run regularly past 40°C; winters are mild and dry, with daytime highs in the low 20s°C. Sea temperature stays between 20 and 27°C, making year-round swimming possible.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift among customers with family or work ties to Jordan. The piece carries the red-stone and turquoise palette people associate with the country. A Medium with a handwritten studio note travels well.

The piece reads at home in jewel-tone maximalist rooms, warm Mediterranean interiors, and desert-modern palettes built around terracotta, sand, and deep teal. It also works against limewashed walls and dark walnut furniture.

Desert-modern and warm-earth palettes — terracotta, ochre, deep teal, weathered brass — continue to drive interior direction. The piece slots cleanly into that family while bringing a specific named place rather than a generic motif.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large reads cleanly at eye height. For a longer wall, a four-tile Mural carries presence; a nine-tile Mural becomes the focal piece of the room.

Yes. For wet rooms or backsplash installation, order the Dura Satin or Matte finish — both scratch-resistant and tolerant of steam and splash. The Glossy finish is best kept to dry rooms and framed wall pieces.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. The colour lives in the ceramic surface beneath a thin protective finish, so it will not fade with normal cleaning. Skip abrasive pads and household solvents.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is curated and finished by the Wender Studios family in Knoxville, Tennessee. The work is not licensed in or printed under another brand — single studio, one eye.

— if this one stayed with you

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