"Rose Coloured City" a Petra Travel Page by leffe3

Oh Petra - the pride of the Nabataeans, the lost city of more than 600 years, the 'rose-red city, half as old as time'.

It is, quite simply, extraordinary. More than 2500 years old, established by the Nabataeans as their capital on the Spice Route. They rose to power and wealth plundering the merchants as they bought their goods across the deserts to the ports of the Mediterranean. A quantam shift made them even wealthier when they realised there was more wealth to be had by protecting the same merchants! At their peak, the empire stretched as far north as Syria and into modern day Saudi Arabia. Their power bought them into contact firstly with the Greeks and then the Romans, but such was their wealth they were able to buy them off! But eventually new sea-going routes were discovered and developed, seeing the Nabataeans decline in power. But, in spite of this, the splendid city of Petra thrived. But natural disasters contributed to the decline of the city, and with the Crusaders conquering the region (and building a small fortress on the edge of the valley), the Nabataeans were a spent force. Even the Crusaders felt little need of keeping the fortress operating in such a barren environs, and their withdrawal in the 12th century left the city abandoned to a few hardy locals and folklore for more than 600 years!

A Swiss explorer, disguised as a Bedouin, eventually rediscovered the lost city in the early 19th century -but even then it was another 100 years before archaelogists moved in.

Petra - it really does live up to every expectation and so much more.....