3.3. Petra, the Spectacular Rose-Red City

The 2000 year old Nabatean capital of Petra has been known throughout the world, from its creation, for its architectural splendour.
Petra is the legacy of the Nabateans, an industrious Arab people who settled in southern Jordan more than 2,000 years ago. From a hidden 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 Nabatean Kingdom endures 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, and myriad rulers followed in his wake.
By the sixteenth century, Petra was completely lost, and so it remained for almost 300 years. Then in 1812, a Swiss adventurer named Johann 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 probably that the ruins at Wadi Musa are those of ancient Petra".
Today Petra is famous for housing one of the most spectacular tourist sites in the world. Carved out of the pink and cinnamon-coloured sandstone of the mountains, Petra contains over 800 monuments. The interplay between the serene beauty of the surrounding nature and the masterful carvings of the Nabateans is truly remarkable and always breath-taking.
The city comprises a complete urban infrastructure which includes temples, baths, private houses, high places, paved streets, public buildings, markets, a theatre, reservoirs and cisterns. Its entrance, a one-kilometre-long fissure through the towering cliffs, the "Siq", provides a dramatic approach and induction to the city. The narrow winding path through the canyon dramatically opens up to expose the awesome facade of the el Khazneh, the "Treasury". This monument, used in the final sequence of the film "Indiana Jones and the last Crusade", is Petra´s most famous building.
To reach the city the visitor travels on foot, or by horse-drawn carriage through the awesome "Siq". Since 1995 horse riding is only possible between the Tourist Centre and the entrance of the "Siq".

 

Contents of the Guide Book

1. Welcome to Jordan
2.. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
2.1. Geography, Climate and Borders
2.2. Entry and Departure Procedures
2.3 Population
2.4. Currency
2.5. History

2.6.

 Government
2.7. Economy
3. Jordan, where the Adventure awaits you
3.2 Amman, the Dynamic Capital City
3.2. The Kings´Highway
(Madaba, Mt. Nebo, Mukawir, Wadi Mujib, Karak, Shobak)
3.3. Petra, the Spectacular Rose-Red City
3.4. The Cities of Decapolis (Pella, Gadara, Abila, Philadelphia, Gerasa, Umm el Jimal)

3.5..

Following the Footsteps of "Lawrence of Arabia";
(Desert Castles: Azraq, Amra, Kharanah; Wadi Rum)
3.6. Aqaba, Jordan´s year-round Red Sea Resort
3.7. The Dead Sea and Termal Spas; The healing power of the Dead Sea; The Hot Springs of Zarqa Ma´in
3.8. Biblical Sites in Jordan
3.8.1. The Biblical Sites from North to South;
Gadara, Anjara, Pella, Bethany, Machaerus, Madaba, Mt. Nebo, the Kings´Highway, Wadi Musa, Sodom & Gomorra, Ayla
3.9. Nature Reserves in Jordan; Wadi Rum, Dana, Zubia, Azraq, Shaumari
4. The Tourist Facilities in Jordan
4.1. Transportation;
Flight Connections, Tourist Buses, Bus-, Train-, Ferry-Connections; Car Rental and Driving in Jordan
4.2. Communication
4.3. Sports;
Aquatic Sports and Diving; Horseback Riding and Camel Trips; Ballooning; Glimbing and Hang-gliding
4.4. Culture and Entertainment; Museums and Galleries; Festivals; Other Entertainments
4.5. Restaurants
4.6. Shopping and Souvenirs
4.7. Tourist Guides
4.8.

Accommodation;
Hotels in Amman, Petra, Aqaba, Spa-Hotels, Other Hotels, Camping
5. Incentive Travel
5.1. Incentive Special Events
6. Helpful Facts about Jordan
6.1. Best Time to Travel and Safty
6.2. Tipping (Bakshish)
6.3. Holidays, Ramadan, Business Hours
6.4. Local Customs - How to Dress?
6.5. Electric Current, Water Supply