Petra Essential: The Siq Canyon, the Treasury Al-Khazneh, the Street of Facades, the High Place of Sacrifice, the Monastery Ad-Deir, and the Nabataean Capital
The Petra essential circuit covers the Siq as the most dramatically narrow single canyon entrance to an ancient city, the Treasury as the most photographed single monument in the Middle East, the Street of Facades, the High Place of Sacrifice, the Monastery as the largest single Nabataean monument, and the full Nabataean capital experience.
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The Siq: The Canyon Entrance to the Lost City
The Siq (the cleft), the 1.2-kilometer natural geological fault canyon with the 80-200 meter walls narrowing to 3 meters at the most dramatic single point, is the most architecturally theatrical single approach to any ancient city in the world because the complete darkness and the narrowness of the final approach most perfectly orchestrates the most sudden single reveal of the Treasury facade at the canyon exit. The Nabataean water channels carved into the Siq walls on each side are the most sophisticated single ancient urban water management system visible within a single canyon approach.
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Treasury Al-Khazneh: The Rose-Red Facade
The Treasury (Al-Khazneh, the Nabataean royal tomb, 1st century BC), the most photographed single ancient monument in the Middle East with the 40-meter rose-red sandstone facade combining the Hellenistic column orders (Corinthian capitals, the most Mediterranean single architectural influence in Nabataean Petra) with the Nabataean floral and eagle decorative motifs, is the most completely photogenic single ancient architectural facade in the world because the Siq framing creates the most dramatically proportioned single architectural reveal.
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Street of Facades: The Royal Necropolis Row
The Street of Facades, the most extensively carved single Nabataean cliff face in Petra with the 40 tombs cut into the sandstone in the most architecturally varied single Nabataean funerary facade sequence (from the simple step crown to the most elaborately pilastered single Nabataean tomb entrance), introduces the visitor to the most complete single Nabataean architectural vocabulary before the later exploration of the monastery and the high place sacrifices.
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High Place of Sacrifice: The Nabataean Ritual Summit
The High Place of Sacrifice (Zibb Attuf), the most dramatically exposed single Nabataean religious site accessible by the 45-minute climb from the Siq, is the most completely preserved single Nabataean open-air altar complex with the rock-cut triclinium, the altar table, and the most panoramically positioned single ritual site in the ancient world overlooking the entire Petra basin. The High Place view of Petra in the morning light is the most photogenically complete single Petra panorama.
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Monastery Ad-Deir: The Largest Nabataean Monument
The Monastery (Ad-Deir), the largest single Nabataean rock-cut monument (50 meters wide, 45 meters tall, significantly larger than the Treasury), accessible by the 800-step carved stone staircase and the most physically demanding single Petra main circuit climb, rewards the visitor with the most impressively scaled single Nabataean architectural facade and the most panoramically complete single Wadi Araba desert view from the monastery plateau above the Petra basin.
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Petra by Night: The Candlelit Treasury
The Petra by Night experience (Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings), where the Siq is lit by 1,500 candles and the Treasury is illuminated in the most atmospherically dramatic single ancient monument lighting program in the Middle East, is the most emotionally affecting single Petra visitor experience and the most unanimously recommended single Petra evening activity by the Jordan tourism review community.