A unique monument of history and culture is Petra, an impregnable fortress-city, the capital or necropolis (there is still no consensus) of the ancient Nabataean state. Founded more than 4 thousand years ago, Petra is located in a mountainous area near the valley of Wadi Musa, and is connected with the outside world only by a narrow kilometre-long gorge Es-Sik, overhanging rocks, almost closing at a height of more than 90 m. Numerous (more than 800!) monumental temples and tombs, burial vaults and festive halls, water channels and reservoirs, baths, religious buildings, shops, public buildings and cobbled streets, amphitheatre, which can accommodate 8.5 thousand spectators - all this is carved in the rocks of unusual pink colour. The most interesting are Al-Khazna ("Treasury", the tomb of one of the Nabatean kings), Ad-Deir ("Monastery"), Sahrij ("Jinnow's Clumps"), "Obelisk Tomb", "Square of Facades", the sacred mountain Jebel Al-Madbah ("Mountain of Sacrifices"), "Royal Tombs", Mugar An-Nasara ("Caves of Christians"), the Theatre, the Byzantine church behind the ruins of Nympheum, Al-Uzza Atargatis ("Temple of the Winged Lions"), Qasr Al-Bint ("Palace of the Pharaoh's Daughter", although the Pharaohs, of course, have nothing to do with this structure), the "Tomb of the Legionnaires", and others.
In the city there are 2 Archaeological Museums - the old (in the mountain Jebel Al-Habis) and the new, possessing excellent collections, as well as many monuments identified with the biblical chronicles - the valley itself Wadi Musa ("Valley of Moses"), the mountain Jebel Garun (Aaron's mountain, on which, according to legend, the high priest Aaron died), the source Ain Musa ("Source of Moses"), etc. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Another undoubted value of the Jordanian land is the numerous castles of the Crusades era, abundantly scattered throughout the country. A single chain of fortifications girdled almost the entire country in the Middle Ages, and quite a number of castles have been preserved in excellent condition.
