2.7 Petra (Jordan) stone town
Petra (Jordan) the stone city
Petra is an important archaeological enclave in Jordan, the name means stone in Greek and the capital of the ancient Nabataean Kingdom. The name of Petra means stone in latin, and his name is perfectly adequate; It is not a city built with stone, but, literally, carved and sculpted in stone. The most famous buildings are the Temple of the winged lions and the Treasury.
Petra is a monumental set only that from December 6, 1985, is inscribed on the World Heritage list of UNESCO. The area surrounding the place is also, since 1993, archaeological National Park. Since July 7, 2007, Petra is part of the new seven wonders of the world.
The settlement of Petra is located in a narrow valley, to the East of the Valley of the Arava, which extends from the dead sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. They are the remains of the capital of the ancient Nabataean Kingdom, founded around the 300 BC. The most famous remains of Petra are undoubtedly its buildings carved into the same rock of the Valley (hemispeos), in particular, the buildings known as the Khazneh (the Treasury) and the Deir ("the monastery").
Founded in ancient times
towards the end of the 7th century BC by the edomites, was occupied in
the 6th century BC by the Nabataeans which made it thrive thanks to its
location on the caravan route that carried the incense, spices and other
products in luxury between Egypt, Syria, Arabia and South of the
Mediterranean.
To the 8th century, changing trade routes and suffered earthquakes, led to the abandonment of the city by its inhabitants. It
fell into oblivion in the modern era, and the place was rediscovered
for the Western world by a Swiss Explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in
1812.
A motorway reaches Petra since 2004. Wiki
Travel recommends that you recruit a Bedouin at the entrance of the
archaeological, in the visitor centre Park, since one can thus take
advantage of the knowledge that have these guides that sometimes even
have lived his entire life in Petra. And for the rental of a donkey or a camel, you will be told the history of the site.
Then begins the street of facades, a long barrel on whose sides are lined up the facades of tombs. At the end of the call, you can see a carved rock theater, expanded in the time of Roman domination, for 7,000 spectators. Yet it still in use in some performances. Front of the theatre are the so-called Royal Tombs, which are more important and great that the street of the facades. And finally the monastery or temple, the largest monument of Petra, which was excavated in stone in 100 BC. It has 800 steps up to it, that might take an hour to overcome. Some visitors prefer to climb on the back of a donkey.
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