If you are ever traveling to Jordan, taking a visit to Petra, is a must. This world wonder is Jordan’s most popular tourist attraction, and it’s easy to see why. Petra is an ancient city that was carved into the rock face over 2,000 years ago by the industrious Arab people. The Nabataeans. This entrance served as a junction for the spice and silk trade routes, linking China, India, and southern Arabia with Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Syria. Just walking through the Siq, the narrow gorge entrance to the city, is an adventure in itself. On each sides of the entrance are 80m high cliffs, that drop straight down. You are then presented with the Al-Khazneh, or Treasury, just at the end of the Siq. The Treasury is a 30m wide and 43m high facade, carved out of the rock wall, serving as the tomb of an important Nabataen king in the early 1st century.
The Treasury isn’t the only amazing monument that makes up Petra. To truly experience the magical city, it is suggested to save at least five days to explore. The beautiful shades of the rock facades change hues as the sun rises and sets. In the Petra valley, you will be presented with hundreds of rock-cut tombs with elaborate and carvings. 500 of these tombs have survived the earthquakes, and are empty but rather haunting.
[photo via turfaolam]
Keep walking through Petra and see the breathtaking Roman-style theater that could seat 3,000 people, the temples, obelisks, colonnaded streets, sacrificial altars, and the Ad-Deir Monastery, which holds two museums: the Petra Archaeological Museum and the Petra Nabataean Museum. At the top of Mount Aaron located in the Sharah range, there is the 13th century shrine built by the Mameluk Sultan, Al Nasir Mohammad. Inside Petra, there are multiple local artists who sell small crafts, pottery, Bedouin jewelry and bottles of striated multi-colored sands from the area.
[photo via blog.kenkaminesky]
