The City of Petra
The city of Petra, capital of the Nabataean Arabs, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. Located 262km south of Amman, Petra is the most important site and tourism attraction in Jordan, visited by tourists from all over the world.
Petra is a unique example of an astonishing ancient civilization. More than 2,000 years ago, the Nabataean Arabs perfectly carved this magnificent city into the mountains, and today it has become one of the new seven wonders of the world.
Petra was rediscovered in 1812 by the Swiss explorer Johan Ludwig Burckhardt during an expedition funded by the British Royal Geographical Society, in the Levant, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula.
Because the city remained hidden from the western world for so long, Petra was named the “Lost City”. It was also described by the English poet Bergen as the unique, astonishing eastern city.
At its peak, the kingdom of the Nabataeans flourished and reached the north-west of the Arabian Peninsula where the remains of the Nabataean city of Mada’in Saleh lie. It also extended to the Red Sea shores of Sinai and the Horan Fields in Syria to Damascus.
The Nabataean Kingdom along with its capital of Petra was surrounded by many ancient kingdoms and civilizations including the Pharaohs to the west, Tadmor to the north, and Mesopotamia to the east.
The Nabateans were famous for their advanced irrigation systems and water harvesting mechanisms.
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The Theater
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The Dam
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Street of Facades
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The colonnaded Street
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For more information, please visit the following website: http://www.visitpetra.jo/