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Jordan Tourism Guide |
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Petra |
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Jordan abounds in archaeological riches, from
Neolithic ruins to the Desert Castles of Umayyad
princes. Chief among these national treasures is
the soul-stirring, rose-red city of Petra, now a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. In order to preserve
the site, all tourists' facilities have been
located in the town of Wadi Musa, right next to
the entrance of Petra.
Petra is the legacy of the Nabataeans, an
industrious Arab people who settled in south
Jordan more than 2,000 years ago. From a remote
staging post, they dominated the trade routes of
ancient Arabia, levying tolls and sheltering
caravans laden with Indian spices and silks,
African ivory and animal hides.
The Nabataean Kingdom endured for centuries, and
Petra became widely admired for its refined
culture, massive architecture and ingenious
complex of dams and water channels. Ultimately,
however, the Roman Emperor Trajan annexed the
Kingdom.
By the 16th century, Petra was completely lost
to the West, and so it remained for almost 300
years. Then in 1812, a Swiss traveller named
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt persuaded his guide to
take him to the site of the rumoured lost city.
Secretly making notes and sketches, he wrote,
"it seems very probable that the ruins at Wadi
Musa are those of the ancient Petra".
Much of Petra's appeal comes from its
spectacular setting deep inside a narrow desert
gorge. From the main entrance, you walk into the
chasm, or siq, that ripped through the rock in a
prehistoric quake.
Threading your way between the cliff walls as
they soar to 80 metres, you pass inscriptions in
ancient languages and rock-cut chambers carved
into the whorls of sandstone.
Petra's most famous monument, the Treasury,
appears dramatically at the end of the siq. Used
in the final sequence of the film Indiana Jones
and the Last Crusade, this towering façade is
only the first of Petra's secrets. Various walks
and climbs reveal literally hundreds of rock cut
tombs and temple façades, funerary halls and
rock reliefs - enough to keep you here for many
days. You find a 3,000-seat theatre from the
early 1st century AD, a Palace Tomb in the Roman
style, a gigantic 1st century Deir (Monastery).
A modest shrine commemorating the death of
Aaron, brother of Moses, was built in the 13th
century by the Mamluk Sultan, high atop Mount
Aaron (Jabal Haroun) in the Sharah range.
These sights are at their best in early morning
and late afternoon, when the sun confers warm
tones to the multicoloured stone, and you can
view the majesty of Petra as Burckhardt saw it
in 1812. When he made his journey, the road was
long and arduous. Now a few hours' drive from
Amman brings you to this unforgettable
destination.
WHAT TO SEE
The main attraction of Petra is the city itself,
of course. A one-day visit is an absolute
minimum, and a week will still leave many parts
unexplored. Maps and excellent guidebooks are
for sale at the entrance to the Petra site, and
guides are available to take you through the
city.
You can hire a horse to take you to the entrance
of the siq (about 1 km from the main entrance).
Horse-drawn carriages can be taken from the main
entrance to the end of the siq. For elderly and
handicapped tourists, the Visitors' Centre can
issue a special permit for an extra fee, so that
the carriages can go inside Petra itself to its
main attractions. After
you have passed the siq, once inside the actual
city, hire a donkey or, for the more
adventurous, be led on camelback - it is easier
than you may think, and surprisingly
comfortable! Remember to take it easy, as the
Petra site is large and can involve some fairly
steep climbs!
More information on Petra and its other
attractions are available from the Visitors'
Centre at the entrance to the site, tel. (03)
2156021. Opens daily 07:00h 16:00h in winter,
07:00h-17:00h in summer.
Another worthwhile sight is the Petra
Archaeological Museum, inside the site, which
houses a wide variety of finds from Petra. Hours
08:00-16:00.
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