At Petra

9 April, 2010

I got up early, which is what the guide books advised, and was at the Visitors’ Centre before 7am. This worked well because it was much cooler at this time, and there was hardly anyone there, compared to the crowds they get from around 11am.

First, I walked down the siq ( the narrow cleft in the rock that leads to Petra)

and saw the Treasury at the end of it.

Like almost all the other monuments at Petra, the Treasury was carved out of the stone mountainside. Not much is known for sure about the monuments except that they were built as tombs, and dating is difficult. This is most probably from the second century AD, but it could have been created as early as the birth of Christ.

I went on down the Street of Facades and saw the old amphitheatre.

I passed what are known as the Royal Tombs on my right (this is one of the Royal Tombs known as the Urn Tomb), and then the Colonnaded Street (from Roman times) on my left.

I decided to walk up to a monument known as the Monastery (actually another tomb). The road up was steep, but the sight at the top was worth it.

The view from just beyond the Monastery was magnificent.

After spending some time at the Monastery, I headed back down the mountain to the main street of Petra and went to see a Byzantine Church and associated buildings, dated to the 6th or 7th century AD. Just as in Madaba, there were some beautiful mosaics on the floor.

After about 7 hours tramping around Petra, I walked back up the siq to Wadi Mousa, the town just outside Petra, where I was staying.