Those who visited Petra would agree that one day is enough to fall in love with the city and to admire it; but even three days is not enough to walk all its paths, to see all its structures from The Treasury to The Monastery (Ad Deir) carved on the top of the mountain. Nabataeans left over 800 Nabataean carved monuments in Petra, not to mention other periods of its history.

Entrance to Petra goes though the Siq — a dark winding narrow gorge. There is a man-made kilometer-long channel carved in one of the walls, which served as a waterway from the Moses Spring to Petra. Ancient architects created a sophisticate system of dams, cisterns and water conduits to control the water level in the desert climate. There were fountains in city squares, and noble Nabataeans (and Romans after them) enjoyed sunbathing by private pools, ruins of which modern archeologists discovered in Petra... All this luxury was impossible to imagine by looking at lifeless rocks under the blazing Jordan sun.

Little carriages and tourists are rushing by, but I prefer to approach Al Khazneh, The Treasury, slowly. First, the façade of the most elaborate and beautiful building in Petra peaks through the mountain walls, and then — meter by meter — it opens in its full shining glory.

It's worth saying that names of the monuments don't necessarily convey their real purpose. As Nabataeans didn't leave a detailed map of the city, Arabs named locations based on myths, appearances, and guesses. For example, The Treasury is called after the legend about an ancient Pharaoh's bounty that was so large that slowed his army on its way East. They had to hide most of the treasures in the mountains... One can see countless bullet holes marking the surface of the Basin crowning the tower — the local Bedouins believed that this was the place of hidden riches and tried to crack the Basin open hoping for the golden rain...

Behind the columns, there are doors leading to inner quarters. It is believed that the small rooms served as a Tomb for Aretas IV Philopatris, the King of Nabataea. During his rein Petra reached its prime, advancing in architecture among other fields. The look of inner quarters of the Tomb is remarkable: color of sandstone flows from white to maroon as if brushed on by nature itself. The façade of the building (30-meter wide and 43-meter high) is carved in a solid rock and decorated with statues of Nabataean gods and goddesses. The Treasury overlooks the main square focusing on the Siq, the narrow entrance to the city. Nothing is in the view, but the rosy-red mountain walls, so it feels like Petra consists only of the Treasury. Nevertheless, right at the side of the building there is a walkway that suddenly opens up around the corner and becomes a wide road leading to the center of the ancient city. Façades of amazingly beautiful monuments are carved in stone run along both sides of the road.

It is believed that the "Street of Facades" was created during Assyrian period, and that architects of Petra incorporated a lot of Eastern design elements into their work. The road takes us to the huge Amphitheatre carved right in the mountain. It is impossible to count the exact number of seats; so different travel guides speak of three to seven thousand seats altogether. Initially Nabataeans built the Theater for their ritual purposes. Later on Romans enlarged it to accommodate almost half of the city during grand performances.

The purpose of rock structures is still unknown. Most former tombs were later used as quarters and temples. We don't even know if they were tombs in the first place! This is why in my description of Petra I will use common terms that are in use in modern Jordan.

Several roads fan out from the Amphitheater, and each on them leads to its own period. If you turn right you will find yourself in the "Royal Tombs" complex. Go west, and you will see the ruins of Dushara Temple, dedicated to the main male god of Nabataeans. This is probably the only detached massive structure in the city.

The path then goes to the narrow gorge with steep 800-steps long stairs to Ad Deir, The Monastery — the largest structure in Petra.

We had to hire donkeys to go up the gorge. However, an experienced hardy traveler can make the path on foot.

Although the design of Ad Deir is less elaborate and doesn't have statues, comparing to the Treasury, it is much wider. We know for sure that during Byzantine period the building served as a Christian church, thus comes the name. One can climb the rocks to reach the urn on the very top. This is a great spot to admire the scale of Nabataean masonry and to enjoy the grand view of the valley of Moses. The only way out of this place is down...

From a distance, when observed from the Monastery, Royal Tombs look rather small comparing to Jabal Haroun ("Aaron's Mountain") where they are actually curved. The most remote tomb is dated 126 BC. This is the only tomb in Petra that has an actual name: it was built for Sextius Florentinus, the Roman governor of the Arabia province. When walking from this tomb toward the Amphitheater along the Wall of Kings, you will see the Palace Tomb, which façade resembles a Roman temple, the Corinthian Tomb that looks like the Treasury, but severely damaged by time and earthquakes, and also the Silk Tomb, which is relatively small comparing to others. Like a beautiful silk blanket, yellow, red, and grey sandstones cover its walls shining in the sun. The nearby Urn Tomb is as tall as the Treasury and the Monastery. Multi-level arched pedestal, interlacing stairwells, and a lateral colonnade lead to the top of the Urn Tomb, where one can find refuge from the blazing sun in the shade of a large room (17 by 19 meters) right behind the massive entrance...

Photo by Dmitry Moiseenko and Stanislav Sedov and Sergey Shandin

29 May 2026