Monastery El Deir Siq Treasury

Petra - one of the New Seven Wonders of the World

Only one of the antique seven wonders of the world still exists: the Pyramids of Giza. Hence the New Open World Foundation launched a global contest to vote for the new seven wonders of the world. At 7.7.2007 the results had been announced: some 100 million voters chosen the Statue of Christ Redeemer in Brazil, Peru’s Machu Picchu, Chichen Itza in Mexico, India’s Taj Mahal, the Colosseum in Rome, the Great Wall in China and Petra in Jordan. With 22 million votes Petra achieved the second place after the Great Wall.

In Petra, listed since 1985 as an UNESCO World Heritage Site, you find a great cultural heritage of the Middle East. Numerous monumental buildings over 2200 years old, carved in sandstone, some of them more than 40 meter high. Petra is believed to be founded around 6th century BC. It was the capital of the Arab Nabataeans, wise people, who gained prosperity by controlling the trade routes. Caravans with spices, silk and incense passed through the rock city to Gaza, Bosra and Damascus as well as Aqaba. The technical skills of the Nabataeans are impressing. They carved the marvelous façades in the stone and in the middle of the desert they created a water supply system with tunnels and water chambers.

As the Romans took over the Nabataean Empire in 106 AD the city lost its overwhelming status. Hidden between mountains the city was nearly forgotten, till it was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann L. Burkhardt in 1812. The Nabataeans left us magnificent buildings and like many visitors before let yourself impress by the façade of the Treasury and the Monastery El Deir.