Saturday, January 12, 2008

City of Petra in Jordan

Petra means "Rock" in Greek.


Believed to have been there since 6th century, in the middle of the Jordanian desert, is from the legendary era of Atlas and Troy.


A Swiss explorer made a rare discovery: these leaning over and touching mountains among other things.


Imagine the emotions when on the eve of its discovery, the explorers saw this scene for the first time.


Palace of Petra, a temple in Greek (Hellenic) style, is called the Treasury and is 42m high.


The palace is unique among the many grand buildings in Petra in that it has been sculpted completely out of limestone.


Petra was built in 6th century for Nabataeans during the Persian imperialism.


The Nabataeans and Bedouins carried out trade in special items like incense, myrrh and aromatic plants.


From 60 AD, Petra was conquered and annexed by the Roman Empire.


The colorful masonry is natural.


This theater, in Greko-Roman style, has capacity of 4000 people!


The Nabataeans built in Petra a sophisticated hydraulic system of canals and water-chambers.




Over a long time, the winds have contributed by carving out beautiful shapes.


In Petra the final scenes of Indiana Jones and the Final Crusade were shot.


Reclaimed sculpting details in the interior.


In the year 551, a second earthquake completely destroyed it. Since then Petra has never been inhabited.


These colorful composite geological formations are naturally picturesque and their formation has been caused by action of wind and gases on the mountain cliff.


















That, my friends, is Petra!
One of the New Seven Wonders of the World (by the New Open World Corporation - not affiliated with UNESCO).

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