Petra Things to Do Tips by uglyscot

The Treasury is the most famous building in Petra, and the first you see as you reach the end of the siq. At the peak of the building is an urn, and this has lead to people speculating that there was treasure in it., hence the name for the building.

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Address: Petra
Directions: as soon as you come from the siq.

As the name suggests, the street running from the Khaznah to the theatre is a series of facades cut into the rock.They are tall and impressive, and some were even dangerous for archaeologists to reach and explore. Some excavation is still going on here as the entrances are often below the level of the street as it is now, or have been damaged and blocked after flooding..

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Address: Petra

Not all people could afford to have fancy carved tombs, so the poorer folk had simpler tombs cut into the rock. To me these are more interesting to look at.

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Address: Petra

The small theatre is right at the end of the Street of Facades , before you come to the large open area leading to the Roman ruins.
It is a typical amphitheatre with rows of step/seats in a semi circle. there are underground passages where the actors could change and move from one place to another.

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Address: Petra

The little old man whom we met at the theatre decided to act as our guide, and pointed out a large cuilding on the opposite side of the street from to theatre. To me none of these facades looked like real buildings that people actually lived or worked in,.
There were a number of other buildings too, but I can't identify them.

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Address: Petra

Round the corner of the hills that contain the Street of Facades and the theatre, the scene changes into a valley. her are what I call 'real buildings'. There is the Roman town with its pillars and orderly arrangement . Unfortunately we didn't have time to do a thorough exploration.

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Address: Petra

Our little guide took us to see the remains of the Byzantine Church . He searched for the guardian who had the key and let us into the fenced enclosure. We were the only visitors.There is a beautiful mosaic floor with representations of animals, birds and fish. In retrospect it reminds me of the Villa of Birds in Alexandria. [see tip under Alexandria.] though the colours are not as fresh.
Because it is a Christian Cgurch, the fish is aone of the details in the mosaic.

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Address: Petra

The rose coloured cliffs are obviously a sedimentary rock as can be seen by the layers of colour, and the relative ease which the workmen cut out the facades. The colours vary from red, to pink to grey and yellow.
As I mentioned on the homepage, the locals are pandering to the tourists and breaking off huge chunks of coloured rock which they sell. Don't encourage this , as soon the landscape will be damaged.

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Address: Petra