Contrary to popular opinion, Petra is not a city hidden in a crack in a rock mountain. That describes the Treasury monument, but not Petra proper. The city of Petra is located in a wide open valley. The Nabataeans built walls across this valley to protect their city from invasion from the north and south. To date, few excavations have been carried out on the wall. The best place to view the walls is from the hill above the churches.
To the bottom right of this picture is a pillar from the blue church. In the background you can see the wadi (valley that runs north/south through Petra). This wadi had walls and towers to protect it.
From the hill just above the Red Church you can see what it must have been like to stand on the city walls. These walls would have protected the city from invasion down this valley from the north.
Remains of the north city wall along the side of the wadi.
One of the city wall towers, along the edge of the wadi.
Click on the small map to see a larger version
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