Petra Highlights – The Rose City
A curated tour of Petra's most iconic ancient Nabataean landmarks, ordered by recommended visit sequence from the main entrance onward.
Trip Stops
- 1
The dramatic 1.2 km-long natural gorge that serves as Petra's grand entrance. Carved by tectonic forces — not water — its walls soar up to 182 m high and narrow to just 3 m in places. Ancient water channels, Nabataean votive niches, and life-size camel carvings line the walls. The suspense builds with every twist until the Treasury suddenly bursts into view at the end.
📍 Wadi Musa, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
- 2
Petra's most iconic facade, carved in the 1st century AD as the mausoleum of Nabataean King Aretas IV. Standing 39 m wide and 43 m tall, it was famously featured as the Holy Grail's hiding place in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Its name comes from Bedouin legends about treasure hidden in the urn atop the facade — locals fired so many bullets at it trying to release the riches that the urn is visibly pockmarked.
📍 Wadi Musa, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
- 3
Immediately past the Treasury, this broad open corridor is flanked by dozens of rock-cut tomb facades stacked in rows — a silent gallery of Nabataean funerary art. These relatively modest tombs contrast strikingly with the Treasury and offer a vivid sense of how densely the city was built into the cliff face. Many were later reused as dwellings by local Bedouin.
📍 Wadi Musa, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
- 4
A sacred Nabataean altar perched atop Jebel Madbah, reached by approximately 800 rock-cut steps near the Theatre. The altar features a flat sacrificial platform with channels to drain the blood of offerings, and a drain pit. It is one of Petra's best-preserved ritual sites. The summit rewards climbers with sweeping panoramic views over the entire valley — well worth the 25–30 minute hike.
📍 Wadi Musa, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
- 5
An impressive rock-cut theatre originally built by the Nabataeans and later enlarged by the Romans to seat up to 8,500 spectators — about a third of Petra's ancient population. Uniquely, its construction sliced straight through earlier tombs, leaving exposed burial chambers visible in the upper tiers. It is one of the few theatres in the world entirely hewn from solid rock.
📍 Wadi Musa, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
- 6
A spectacular row of four monumental tomb facades carved high into the Jabal al-Khubtha cliff face — the Urn Tomb, Silk Tomb, Corinthian Tomb, and Palace Tomb. The Urn Tomb, possibly the resting place of King Malichus II, was converted into a Byzantine church in AD 447. The Palace Tomb at 49 m wide is one of Petra's largest facades and uniquely combines carved rock with constructed masonry at its top.
📍 Wadi Musa, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
- 7
Petra's grand main thoroughfare, originally a Nabataean market street lined with shops on both sides. When the Romans took control around AD 106, they narrowed it and added 72 columns per side to give it a classic Roman imperial feel. The street once held a semi-circular nymphaeum (ornamental fountain) and a symbolic lone tree representing the city's peaceful prosperity.
📍 Wadi Musa, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
- 8
The largest freestanding structure in Petra, covering roughly 7,560 m² and completed under Nabataean King Aretas IV in the early 1st century AD. Excavated by Brown University from 1993 onward, its most surprising feature is an intimate 600-seat theatre-within-a-temple (theatron), suggesting it may have served civic and council functions as much as religious ones. Climbing its grand staircase rewards visitors with a commanding view over the entire site.
📍 Wadi Musa, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
- 9
The 'Palace of Pharaoh's Daughter', one of Petra's few freestanding built structures (rather than rock-carved), constructed from massive ashlar blocks in the 1st century BC. Standing about 23 m tall with walls over 7 m thick, it was Petra's main pagan temple — likely dedicated to the chief Nabataean god Dushara. Its local folk name comes from a legend about a pharaoh's daughter who challenged suitors to bring water to her palace.
📍 Wadi Musa, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
- 10
Petra's largest monument and arguably its most awe-inspiring — a rock-cut facade 47 m high and 48 m wide, dwarfing even the Treasury. Reached by an 800-step climb (about 40 minutes) from the Basin, it was carved in the mid-1st century AD and later reused as a Christian church in the Byzantine period (hence the name, derived from crosses carved inside). On a clear day, the viewpoint beyond the Monastery offers vistas stretching into Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
📍 Wadi Musa, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
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