Right in your face --- after leaving the Siq --- is this awesome building --- CARVED RIGHT INTO THE ROCK! It's the size of a 12-story building! You will recognize this building if you have seen the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".

HISTORY
In it's hey day, Petra was an important and large city . It's structures were awesome. It's religious high places intriguing and mysterious! 

Petra is one of the oldest metropolises known. It was founded in 312 B.C.! It contains over 800 tombs carved into the rose-colored rocks! There are monuments and houses carved right into the stone mountain. In 2007 it was named one of the "New Seven Wonders of the Modern World".

This prehistoric city of Petra was 'lost' for hundreds of years. Only about 15% of the city has been uncovered, though. The other 85% is still underground!

Once I reach the end of the narrow slit known as the Siq, I see a glimpse of the gigantic rock-cut building called 'The Treasury'. Even though only a small part of it is visible through the slot of the Siq, it is mesmerizing! I walk faster. I can't wait to see this thing! Little by little, more of it comes into view. 

THE TREASURY!
After leaving the Siq, you walk into a different, even larger, open canyon! This building, 'The Treasury', is what is pictured on tourist pamphlets or on internet sights promoting tourism in Jordan . 

This building carved out of solid rock, standing over 120 feet tall, is nothing short of magnificent! The Treasury was probably constructed in the 1st century B.C., but Petra began centuries before that!

The face of The Treasury has two levels, with an eagle perched at the very top. You climb a small set of steps to enter the massive doorway. You can't actually go inside anymore, but you can go to the door and look in.

The Treasury is actually not a treasury in any sense. It has nothing to do with finances or money. The Treasury is nothing more than a building face with a small hall inside. It got 'The Treasury' nickname from legends that the Egyptian Pharaoh had hidden treasures inside.

The Hollywood movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" filmed scenes here in Petra. The 'Canyon of the Crescent Moon' was modeled after the Siq I talked about in my previous post . Scenes from a few other movies have been shot here also.

In the movie, Harrison Ford and Sean Connery walk from the Siq to the Treasury and enter the maze of passages in search of the Holy Grail.

But Hollywood productions, unlike Petra, are not real. I look inside the doorway of the Treasury. There are no passageways! There is only a small room that is believed to have been used as a religious altar or a tomb!

So, while the film is anything but accurate regarding Petra, you have to admit the scenes filmed here were breathtaking!

A person could easily get the idea this one building is all there is to see in Petra.

But, that is definitely not the case! I have already walked a couple of hours through the Siqs to get to this point, and snapped tons of photos! And, there is just so much more to see from this point on .

After leaving The Treasury, you have just started to explore the massive, prehistoric, rock city of Petra. 

THE STREET of FACADES
When you finish gazing at, and admiring, The Treasury, you walk past it, down the road. If you are exhausted from walking from the Petra gate through the Siq, you can get a camel or donkey to ride in front of The Treasury. 

The camels can only take you from The Treasury down to the end of the Street of Facades. The donkeys can continue further, if you want to ride further. I just walk, so I can climb stairs and take photos and explore all along the way

The road from The Treasury begins to widen slowly until it comes to an open area. This is called The Street of Facades. It's a long, curving, wide, roadway with more than 40 tombs and houses built into the rock cliffs. It connects The Treasury with the main part of Petra .

The tombs and houses are on four different levels up the cliffsides. These were for the "less wealthy" families of the time. You can get to these to explore them very easily with a little climbing, unlike many other tombs in Petra!
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THE ROMAN THEATER
Past the Street of Facades, at the bottom of the mountain, is the massive Roman Theater, seating 7,000. It is still used for performances. I put more information about it on the photo.

An amazing thing about this amphitheater is that it was positioned so as to give the audience a great view of the Royal Tombs!

THE ROYAL TOMBS
Past the amphitheater you will see the Royal Tombs. They are magnificent! They were built to bury the Nabataean dignitaries of Petra.

As I walked for two days along the streets I continued to be amazed at the tombs in this city . Even though the blowing sand continues to take its toll on the rock-faces here, they are still such beautiful and lasting monuments of the time.

So much credit has to be given to people from that time that were able to complete such a task as this is!

BIBLICAL
At one time Petra was a great center of Christianity, around the 4th or 5th century. Large tombs were often turned into churches. Crosses were chiseled into the tombs to identify them as churches. 

One of the Royal Tombs is called the Urn Tomb. It has an inscription to “Christ the Saviour” on one of its inside walls. One of the churches has a marble pulpit from 6 A.D. 

END OF DAY ONE IN PETRA
I think about camel caravans moving through this ancient city thousands of years before now. Loaded with their spices and scents and other goods for sale. Of the day-to-day life in this once vibrant desert city . How many civilizations have stood in awe at these rock creations?

With 85% of this city still not excavated, I wonder what wonders lie beneath the streets I have walked down? 

On the 1st day I stopped at the Great Temple. Tomorrow I will return to this point and hike some of the trails into the mountains to get a closer look!

But, that does not mean my day is over. I still have to hike miles back the way I came today to get out!

 
NEXT: The Hills Above Petra