Petra, Jordan: The Rose-Red City Carved from Living Rock

Petra was the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom, a trading civilisation that controlled the incense routes between Arabia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean from the 4th century BC to the 1st century AD. The Nabataeans carved their city from the rose-red sandstone of the Jordanian desert, creating a metropolis of temples, tombs, colonnaded streets, and water channels that at its height housed 30,000 people. When the Roman Empire absorbed the Nabataean Kingdom in 106 AD, Petra gradually declined, and by the 7th century it had been largely abandoned — known only to the local Bedouin until the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt rediscovered it for the Western world in 1812.

The approach to Petra through the Siq is one of the great theatrical experiences in travel. The Siq is a natural gorge one kilometre long and in places only two metres wide, its walls rising 80 metres on either side, the sky above reduced to a narrow strip of blue. The Nabataeans carved water channels into the walls of the Siq to carry water from the Wadi Musa spring into the city, and fragments of the terracotta pipes that lined these channels are still visible. The gorge narrows and twists, and then — suddenly — the columns and pediment of the Treasury appear in a gap in the rock ahead.

The Treasury, known in Arabic as Al-Khazneh, was carved in the 1st century BC as the mausoleum of the Nabataean king Aretas III. Its facade is 40 metres wide and 43 metres high, carved directly from the sandstone cliff in a style that blends Hellenistic and Nabataean architectural traditions. The name 'Treasury' comes from a Bedouin legend that the urn at the top of the facade contained the pharaoh's treasure — the urn is pockmarked with bullet holes from generations of Bedouin who tried to shoot it open. The interior is a single undecorated chamber, the decoration being entirely on the exterior.

Beyond the Treasury, the city opens up into a broad valley containing the Street of Facades — a row of tomb facades carved into the cliff face — the Roman Theatre, carved from the rock and capable of seating 8,500 spectators, and the colonnaded street that was the main commercial artery of the Nabataean city. The Great Temple, excavated by Brown University archaeologists since 1993, is one of the largest freestanding structures in Petra, with a theatre-like interior that may have served as a meeting place for the city's council.

The Monastery, known as Ad Deir, is larger than the Treasury and requires a climb of 800 rock-cut steps to reach — a 45-minute ascent that passes through a landscape of eroded sandstone in extraordinary shades of red, orange, and purple. The Monastery was carved in the 3rd century AD and later used as a Christian church, as evidenced by the crosses carved into its interior walls. The view from the terrace in front of the Monastery, over the Wadi Araba toward Israel and the Negev Desert, is one of the finest in Jordan.

Petra by Night, offered three times a week, fills the Siq and the area in front of the Treasury with 1,800 candles and accompanies the walk with traditional Bedouin music. The candlelight transforms the rose-red sandstone into something even more otherworldly, and the Treasury, lit from below, seems to float in the darkness. The experience is more atmospheric than informative — there is no guided commentary — but as a sensory experience it is unlike anything else in the region.

The best time to visit Petra is in spring (March-May) or autumn (September-November), when the temperatures are comfortable for walking and the light is at its most beautiful. The site covers 264 square kilometres and contains over 800 individual monuments — a full exploration would take several days. The most important sites can be covered in a long day, but spending two or three days allows you to reach the more remote monuments, including the High Place of Sacrifice and the Coloured Canyon, and to experience the site at different times of day as the light changes the colour of the sandstone.