It is a city built of stone but literally carved and sculpted in stone. The most famous of Petra remains are undoubtedly its buildings carved into the rock of the valley (hemispeos), in particular, the buildings known as the Khazneh (Treasury) and the Deir (the Monastery). Considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World since 2007

Petra is a troglodyte town situated amidst rocky cliffs, rocks and stones are everywhere. The site consists of sandstone rock detritus formed from aggregation and diagenesis cementation or sand grains. It is, therefore, a coherent and hard rock.

The Khazneh el Faroun, or the Treasury of the Pharaoh, is an imposing facade standing some 40 m tall, cut directly from the rock of the mountainside. On the lower floor is a portico with six columns, crowned by floral capitals and surmounted by a fronton; the third floor is divided into three parts at the centre is a tholos with a conical roof, surmounted by a urn, and on either side two half-frontons, supported by columns.

Street of Facades

Petra is known as the Rose-Red City for the colour of the rocks in which Petra is carved Around Petra are rock-cut tombs presenting Hellenistic type facades including the famous Khazneh Twenty rocks are also called jinns representing perhaps the gods guarding the city.

The Urn Tomb, a well-preserved monument that faces on to an open terrace fronted by a double row of vaults. A colonnaded cloister runs along the northern side of the terrace. The elaborate facade fronts a single, unadorned room. The walls are smooth, the interior corners exact. The only decoration to be seen at present comes from the beautiful whorls of different-coloured sandstone in the walls, ceiling and floor of the chamber.

Petra lies south of modern Amman on the edge of the mountainous desert of Wadi Araba, surrounded by towering hills of sandstone which gave the city some natural protection against invaders

Welcomes visitors to Jerash.

Jerash reveals a fine example of the grand, formal provincial Roman urbanism that is found throughout the Middle East, comprising paved and colonnaded streets, soaring hilltop temples, handsome theatres, spacious public squares and plazas, baths, fountains and city walls pierced by towers and gates.

The Oval Plaza.

Looking NE from the Oval Plaza. The arched structure 560mts down the street is north Tetrapylon.

Is the best-known of the desert castles located in present-day eastern Jordan, considered one of the most important examples of early Islamic art and architecture It was built early in the 8th century . It is a low building made from limestone and basalt. The northern block, two stories high, features a triple-vaulted ceiling over the main entrance on the east facade. The western wings feature smaller vaults or domes.

Qusayr Amra is most notable for the frescoes on the inside walls. The main entry vault has scenes of hunting, fruit and wine consumption, and naked women. Some of the animals shown are not abundant in the region but were more commonly found in Persia, suggesting some influence from that area.

The building itself is a square 35 metres (115 ft) on each side, with small projecting corner towers and a projecting rounded entrance on the south side. It is made of rough limestone blocks set in a mud-based mortar.

On the inside the building has 60 bayt, or rooms on two levels arranged around a central courtyard, with a rainwater pool in the middle. Many of the rooms have small slits for light and ventilation. Some of the rooms are decorated with pilasters, medallions and blind niches finished in plaster.

The arches are not connected to the carrying wall, instead placed on bearing arms. The overall weight of the structure keeps these elements together