Petra: Hiking to the Monastery

Our second day in Petra was spent sleeping in, sunning by the pool and heading into Petra for the hike up to the Monastery...easily Petra's coolest most impressive temple!

Like the "Treasury," the name "Monastery" is a rather inaccurate nickname, which is probably based on its remote location and some inscribed crosses in the interior. Although it may have been later used as a church it was probably a temple. It may have been dedicated to the deified Nabatean king Obodas I, who reigned in the 1st century BC.

The Monastery is beautifully carved, though much less decorated than the Treasury, and so huge that even the doorway is several stories tall.  The entire temple is 50 m high x 45m wide.
Look at the pictures.....you'll see us standing in the doorway...look closely, we are ant sized!

 

 

The Monastery is an hour's climb northwest of the city center on an ancient rock-cut path of about 1000 steps. We saved this for the afternoon so the path is mostly in shade and the sun is shining on the Monastery's facade....it was a great hike and the reward at the top was so worth it. We kept hiking about 10 minutes further up for some stunning views over Petra and the valleys/mountains below.

 

 

Tomorrow we wake up bright and early to take a bus 2 hours into Jordan's Wadi Rum desert for 3 days of hiking, camel trekking and camping under the stars.

Now if I could just get all of the fine pink dust out of everything I was wearing....it's invasive and stains when it gets wet...my shoes may be a write off!



Bye Petra! Leaving at dusk through the siq.