The abandoned city of Petra lies in a remote valley basin in the Shara mountains in southern Jordan. In ancient times it was the capital of the reign of the Nabateans. While the area had been settled since paleolithic times due to its convenient location and supply of water, the city was founded by the Nabateans around the 5th century BC. The city started declining following the Roman conquest in the 2nd century AD. In the 7th century AD the city was finally abandoned and forgotten. It was rediscovered in 1812 by Jean Louis Burckhardt, a Swiss traveller. Nowadays Petra consists of ruins spread over the valley basin and of monumental tombs carved into the rock, of which the Treasury and the Monastery are the most famous. Petra has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1985.
01 Entrance to the Siq 02 The Siq 03 The Siq 04 Rock formation 05 Narrow passage through the rocks 06 The Siq
07 The Siq at its widest 08 Narrow passage through the rocks 09 Passage through steep pink rocks 10 Passage through steep pink rocks 11 The Siq 12 Passage through steep pink rocks
13 Passage through steep pink rocks 14 Passage through steep pink rocks 15 Narrow passage through the rocks 16 Passage through steep pink rocks
17 Panoramic view of Wadi Musa 18 Road in Bab as-Siq area
19 Tourists walking through Bab as-Siq 20 Obelisk tomb in Bab as-Siq area 21 Road in Bab as-Siq area 22 Cave in Bab as-Siq area
01 Siq access to Treasury 02 Siq access to Treasury 03 Siq access to Treasury 04 The Treasury 05 The Treasury 06 The Treasury
07 Treasury facade 08 Treasury facade details 09 Treasury facade details 10 Inner chamber
11 The Treasury 12 The Treasury 13 Treasury facade details 14 Treasury facade details 15 Treasury facade details 01 Street of facades
02 Tombs on street of facades 03 Theatre 04 Theatre
05 Theatre 06 Dromedary rider waiting for customers 07 Ruins of the Great Temple 08 Ruins of the Great temple
09 Great temple columns 10 Temple of winged lions ruins 11 Colonnade street 12 Temenos arched gate 13 Temenos arched gate detail
14 Temenos arched gate 15 Carved rocks 16 Qasr Al-Bint temple of Dushares 17 Qasr Al-Bint temple of Dushares facade 18 Gate of Qasr Al-Bint temple of Dushares
01 Tomb carved into the rock 02 Tomb carved into the rock 03 Urn tomb 04 Urn tomb and cliff
05 East ridge with tombs 06 East ridge with tombs
07 East ridge with tombs 08 East ridge with tombs 09 Corinthian tomb
10 Palace and Corinthian tombs 11 Corinthian tomb 12 Palace tomb gate 13 Corinthian tomb 14 Corinthian tomb detail 15 Tomb carved into the rock
16 Tomb carved into the rock 17 East ridge with tombs
18 East ridge with tombs 01 High place of sacrifice
02 High place of sacrifice 03 High place of sacrifice 04 Pool and altar 01 Deir Monastery
02 Panorama view of Monastery 03 Monastery upper part of facade 04 Monastery viewed from cave 05 Deir Monastery
06 Deir Monastery 07 Deir Monastery 08 Deir Monastery 09 Deir Monastery
10 Deir Monastery 11 Panorama view of Monastery 12 Monastery upper facade 13 Monastery upper facade
14 Entrance to Monastery 15 Monastery upper part of facade 16 View from inner chamber 17 Inner chamber 18 Monastery upper facade
19 Panorama view of Monastery 01 Street of facades 02 Street of facades 03 Oval opening in red cave
04 View of central Petra 05 Late afternoon view of street of facades 06 Steep pink cliff 07 Panoramic view of Petra
08 Panoramic view of Petra 09 Canyon 10 Canyon with path to Monastery 11 Canyon with path to Monastery
12 Canyon 13 Canyon 14 Donkey 15 Path to monastery and rock formations
16 Path to viewpoint near Monastery 17 Mountains surrounding Petra 18 Stone heap
19 Mountains surrounding Petra 20 Roofed viewpoint with tourists 21 Canyon 22 Canyon
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©Copyright Alfred Molon