On my trip to Jordan, there were some must-see places that i had to go and i believe that anyone should visit as well. Firstly we arrived and stayed in Amman for 2 days and discovered a lot of amazing places there, more can be found here and then we made a one day trip to Jerash which is a magnificent ancient city that is still preserved today.
Our next travel stop was Petra and more particularly Wadi Musa which is the town where Petra is located. Wadi Musa literally means the Valley of Mosses and the town has currently around 7000 people living there.
What was quite amazing was the fact that due to the many tourists that are arriving there the town has seen prosperity. That means that you will find restaurants, hotels and great Airbnbs. In general, some of the most amazing Airnbnbs i have stayed were in Jordan.
So we booked 1 Airbnb apartment for 4 people that was up the hill. Above us, the owners of the apartment were living there and we made a deal to pay them and cook us traditional food which was freaking amazing. Then we had a nice talk about Jordan in general and Petra. I remember that he told us that his grandfather was living in some caves which can be found as you enter Petra.
Not only that but many people were living that way back then, as these caves were cooler during the hot months. When Petra became a huge tourist attraction all of these people had to evacuate their houses and move a bit further to what is known as the town of Wadi Musa.
Entering Petra
A tip for all of you who are thinking of visiting Petra, and i bet that if anyone who has already visited Petra will agree with me, start your walking tour as early as possible! There are 2 main reasons for that. The first one is because as the time gets by it gets hotter and hotter outside so the whole experience might get a bit more tiresome.
The second reason is that most tourists and tour busses arrive a couple of hours after the gates open and thus it gets quite crowded. That means you won't have the chance to either take great photos without random people around photobombing or in general to experience this magnificent place and its history alone.
Note that if you decide to see everything that Petra has to offer, you will need to walk a lot so be prepared with good shoes, water and maybe food. You can find water and food inside as well and heck there are even small cafeteria places where you can sit and take a breath. Even if you can't walk you can pay to have a donkey or a small car take you outside so no need to worry.
If you are interested in some history info and facts, Petra comes from Greek ΠΕΤΡΑ which means stone. The unique thing about Petra is the rock-cut architecture and the water system. There are findings there since the Neolithic era. Petra began to prosper as the capital of the Nabataean Empire from the 1st century BC, which grew rich through trade. Even when the Roman Empire ruled, Petra still held a considerable position but after a big earthquake happened in 363 AD, slowly the city was abandoned.
As you arrive and start walking around, you will first see the small cave-like houses where people lived there even a couple of years ago. Then it gets quite narrow which is still amazing and soon you will see the Treasury which you may already have seen in movies. The Siq which is the main road that leads to the city starts at the Dam and ends at the treasury.
The Siq which is a rock canal is around 80 meters long and most of it is naturally formed and the rest was carved. On both sides, you can still see the water channels that would lead the water from outside the city to the inside. Soon you will also see the Dam which redirected the flood waters into a tunnel.
The Siq as mentioned above leads to the Treasury a 40-meter-high building which was decorated with Corinthian capitals and in general Hellenistic style. Near the bottom, there are the twin Greek gods Castor and Pollux. Nobody knows what the "treasury's" purpose was, some say it was a temple, others say it was a place to store documents. I guess only time will tell.
The real Petra Adventure Begins
If you thought like me when i was there that Petra would end on the Treasury you have no idea what lies ahead. Petra was a big city that at a time 20k people lived there. That means that it has to be huge and it is. As you get out of these narrow spaces you get to see a valley of sorts with many different buildings and tombs as well as traces of a river. Immediately i tried to imagine how Petra would have been at its peak.
Now the first thing that you see in that wide space are tombs everywhere. Also, a theater can be seen which is said to accommodate 4000 people. In general, most of the tombs are right next to each other and ofc the Hellenistic Architecture is used there as well. It is said that many leading figures had their tombs there like for example the King of Petra.
Temples, churches and even a road full of Hellenistic-style columns can be found here and everything leads towards the "stairs" in order to reach the Monastery which is the most magnificent monument you can find there.
It's a long way to hike there but i suggest everyone go and check it out. It's around 50 meters long, and it's rumored to be used for religious type of events and ceremonies. Honestly speaking i had to stop hiking for a couple of moments to catch my breath but it was worth it as you can see in the image above.
The most amazing thing in my opinion is that Petra at the time of its prosperity might have been one of the most beautiful cities around. Natural defences, rivers and a great water system and literally all the monuments you see in the pictures above have been carved on stone. It's not like it was built which is quite amazing if you think about the work needed to obtain such results. It's like the whole valley and mountains were a free canvas for the artists to sculpt, carve and "draw" a city out of nowhere!
The ancient architecture never failed to amaze me. Truly amazing.
Glad you liked it, thank you for stopping by!
What a wonderful experience to be able to visit one of the most amazing places on Earth in terms of architectural wonder and heritage and historical value.
Indeed i was quite amazed and i am not easily amazed :P
Omg what a beautifull place
Thanks for stopping by!
Youre welcome
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Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Travel Digest #2043.
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