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Petra

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We arrived Petra by car from Wadi-Rum. It was less than 2 hrs journey . We checked – in to our hotel and our first stop was “Petra – By – night”. Every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday of each week entire Siq to the Treasury was lit with over 1,500 candles. Itย is a magical way to see part of the rock city by candlelight and explore the old city.

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Siq , Illuminated with candles
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Path from Visitor Centre

This was our Day 2 in Petra. We planned to spend the entire day walking in Petra. Thisย is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. It is not known precisely when Petra was built, butย the cityย began to prosper as the capital of theย Nabataean empireย from the 1st century BC, whichย grew rich through trade in frankincense, myrrh, andย spices.ย Petra was later annexed to the Roman Empire and continuedย to thrive until a large earthquake in 363ย AD destroyed muchย of the city in the 4th century AD.ย The earthquake combined with changes in tradeย routes, eventually led to the downfall of the cityย which was ultimatelyย abandoned. By the middle ofย the 7th century Petra appears to have beenย largelyย deserted and it was then lost to all except localย Bedouinย from the area.

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First Glimpse of Tresury

From visitor’s center we walked towards treasury. The 1.2 km siq starts at an bridge beside a modern dam. Technically the Siq with is 200m high wall is not a canyon, but a single block that has been rent apart by tectonic forces.

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The Siq

The Treasury (Al- Khazneh) is the face of Petra. This was used in the movie “Indiana Jones and Last Crusade” as the entrance of the temple housing The Holy Grail. There 6 columns at ground level. The carved figures are thought to be “Sons of Zeus”.

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Treasury

From the Treasury passage broaden to what is known as outer Siq. There are few tombs and then Theater and High Place of Sacrifice. Theater was meant to hold to about 8500 people about 30% of Petra population.

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Theater

From theater we went towards royal tombs . These are the most impressive burial places in Petra. The most impressive is the Urn tomb. There are some other neighboring tombs like Silk tomb and Corinthian tomb. There is also a three-storey imitation of a Roman palace known as Palace tomb. This is thought to be more of ornamental than any religious significance.

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Royal Tombs
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Petra is also known as the rose-red city, a name itย gets from the wonderful colour of the rock fromย which many of the cityโ€™sย structures were carved.
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Great Temple

Excavation of great temple has started in 1993. The temple was once 18m high enclosure was 40 X 28M . The interior was covered with striking red and white stone work. We visited few other places like Qasr Al- Bint, Temple of the winged Lions and Nabataen Museum.

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Near Museum

I went for 1 hr hike to the monastery . This was a exasperating 1 hour hike with more than 850 steep stone steps . Anwesha took a donkey up instead.ย Along the way a lot of women are selling jewelry, offering you some tea and encouraging you. I read a review from a woman who told one of the seller โ€˜laterโ€™ and then the women remembered when she went back on the way down and insisted that she take a look at her stand as she said she would.

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There are 3 different view points that you can climb around here. Walking towards them gives interesting views of the Monastery and you can really realized how it is carved in the mountain.

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Monastery is similar in design to the Treasury but far bigger (50m wide and 45m high), it was built in the 3rd century BC as a Nabataean tomb. It derives its name from the crosses carved on the inside walls, suggestive of its use as a church in Byzantine times.

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The Monestry

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After coming down from Monastery we spend some time near museum had my sandwich and then I set-off for 2 hour hike to “High Place of Sacrifice”. I started the hike to Petra city center.ย  I started from Qasr al-Bint. I went up along the ridge to Phraun Column. There are few ruined Natabean and Roman houses.The trail goes above Wadi. A women selling jewelry up there. When I declined to buy anything she asked me if I can give her anything to eat . I gave her the packet of biscuit I was carrying. Further down the trail is the elegant Roman Soldiers Tomb. On the way to High Place of Sacrifice , I saw Garden Tomb and Lion Monument. Finally I went up to Wadi Farasa and then up to the High Place of Sacrifice. From there I took steps down to Theater. It was grand afternoon exit to Petra city again.

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High Place of Sacrifice

We came out of Petra late in the afternoon. It was long and tiring day, but also was immensely satisfying .