Petra travel guide
Petra is not just Jordan’s greatest tourist attraction, it’s one of the world’s “must-sees”. Uniquely, it combines spectacular ancient ruins with sensational natural scenery.
Uniquely, Petra combines spectacular ancient ruins with sensational natural scenery. In 1985, it officially became a Unesco World Heritage Site, and in 2007, the site was voted worldwide as one of the “New Seven Wonders”.
Nabataean city
From sunrise to sunset, a steady stream of tourists tread the millennia-old footpaths, yet the numbers never manage to diminish the majesty of the place or its mystery. Though Petra was first and foremost a thriving Nabataean city, the magnificent funerary monuments and prolific references to gods, animals and mythological beings combined with the looming rockscapes and continual shifts of light and shade create an almost supernatural aura.
The city is also exceptionally well preserved. All but abandoned by the late 8th century, the architectural and artistic details of the monuments appear amazingly fresh. In many places, the carving is as almost as sharp as it must have been 2,000 years ago.
Places to visit in Petra
The Treasury, Petra’s most famous monument
The iconic Treasury's name reflects the local legend that the urn on top of the monument held the pharaoh’s treasure. This monumental tomb was probably built for the Nabataean King Aretas III in the 1st century BC. Its facade still shows a variety of classical and Nabataean architectural elements, including statues of gods, animals and mythological figures. The Outer Siq leads from here past the stalls of the local sand artists towards the theatre and the city centre, also passing several large tombs and tricilinia (singular: triclinium, a funerary banqueting hall with benches along three sides).
The Royal Tombs, resting place of Nabataean kings
From the refreshment stands beyond the theatre, a restored Nabataean staircase ascends to the Royal Tombs (Al-maqabir al-malakiyah), consisting of a dozen large burial chambers. The stairs lead to the most striking one, the Urn Tomb (Qabr al-jarrah), with its subterranean vaults and its large internal chamber that was converted into a Byzantine church in AD 446–47. The southernmost of the Royal Tombs is the very well preserved Tomb of Unayshu (Madfan ‘nishu), a minister who served the Nabataean kings. North of the Urn Tomb is the heavily eroded but very colourful Silk Tomb (Qabr al-harir), set back in a recess.
The Great Temple, ancient Petra’s most important temple precinct
The collapsed Great Temple (Al-ma‘bad al-kabir) is one of the few structures in Petra that were free-standing rather than carved into the rock. Some scholars think this temple might in fact have served as the city’s forum or agora, the heart of its business and administrative dealings, but recent excavations have failed to confirm this theory. The 7,000 sq metre (75,300 sq ft) temple complex, guarded from the front by four 40-metre (130ft) -high columns (two of which remain intact in spite of the powerful earthquake that destroyed most of the temple), includes an upper and lower temenos (sanctuary) and a temple.
The evocative Qasr al-Bint Temple
The 23-metre (75ft) -high Qasr al-Bint Temple is Petra’s most impressively constructed – as opposed to carved – structure, and dates from just before or after the time of Christ. Its open-air altar was used for public religious ceremonies. The temple faces north towards the Shara Mountains, which gave rise to the name of the leading Nabataean god, Dushara (“He of Shara”). The external walls were once decorated with painted stucco, plaster panels, a Doric frieze, rosette medallions and bust reliefs, some of whose remains can still be seen. The temple was destroyed in the late 3rd century AD.
Umm al-baiyarah for stunning views of the region
The east face of the towering massif of Umm al-baiyarah (“Mother of Cisterns”) sports a variety of Nabataean tomb styles. The trek to the summit along an ancient processional way is demanding and requires a guide, but provides breathtaking panoramas of the entire Petra region. The summit retains the excavated remains of a small Edomite village from the 7th century BC Old Testament period, with impressive rock-cut water channels and Cisterns. The Nabataeans also used the summit and built a small temple and other structures along its east rim.
If you enjoy Petra, explore the other stunning sites on Jordan's King's Highway
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