Top 5 Spectacular Attractions in Petra - Making the most of Petra's Sights

At the start of your walk through Petra, you will pass the Djinn blocks, named after a spirit in Arab folklore, which serve as tombs and memorials to the dead. Past the ancient remains of the beautiful Obelisk Tomb and the remains of the dam and bridge, you will arrive at the enigmatic Al Siq Canyon that leads you into the mesmerizing city of Petra. Leading you through the 1.2-kilometer-long gorge was created through a natural geological fault by tectonic forces, resulting in a split in the sandstone rock and creating this picturesque and transcending gorge! The sandstone walls of the Siq with its time-painted sandstone walls in alluring shades of red, pink, orange, a hint of violet, and burnished gold in varying patterns and textures, add to the amazing sensory journey as you walk through. 

The Siq opens into Petra's most magnificent 40-meter-high facade, the Al Khazna Treasury. With intricate carvings of Corinthian friezes and figures decorating the facade, the treasury is complete with a funerary urn, the purpose of which is still unknown, and myth suggests Pharao's hidden treasures lay here! Recent excavations have unearthed a graveyard beneath the Treasury. This has led to the belief amongst many that the treasury has been a mausoleum or a tomb of the royals. 

Follow along the main trail past the series of tombs named the Street of Facades, and climb the stepped pathway cut into the rock to reach the High Place of Sacrifice, which was used during important religious ceremonies. Arriving at the top gives way to beautiful panoramic views of the city below. Being at the high place of sacrifice looking down at life below, it's easy to feel closer to heaven than the earth!

At the foot of the High Place of Sacrifice lies the 4000-seat Theater, and a short walk ahead is the trail that leads to a collection of Royal Tombs that could be explored. Back on the main trail walk past the Nymphaeum which was once a grand public fountain back in the day, and continue on the Colonnaded Street, presumed to be the main shopping street of Petra.

The three churches are situated on a hilltop plateau towards the north of Collanaded Street. Awnings cover the remains of the Byzantine floor mosaics of the church. It is a truly exquisite work of masterful art, design, and architecture and is not to be missed on a visit to Petra. The three churches are named Petra Church a large 3 aisled basilica dedicated to St. Mary, the Blue Chapel named after its four blue Egyptian granite columns, sandstone flooring, and marble pulpit, and the Ridge Church believed to be the oldest in Petra, which is on a ridge overlooking the expanse of the city.

The Nabatean temple of Qasr Al Bint and the Lion Triclinium—the banquet hall with the winged-lion emblems of Nabatean goddess Al Uzza of pre-Islamic times carved onto the weathered entrance. Past these structures lays a narrow and worn pathway of steps cut into the sandstone formation that leads the way to the highlight of Petra standing proudly carved into the rock, the monumental Ed Deir Monastery, also known as El Deir in all its Mesopotamian glory. The valleys of Wadi Araba, the Gorges, and the immediate vicinity around Petra could be viewed from here.