The drama of visiting Petra starts with the journey into the mountain-ringed city along the siq, a winding, one kilometer long fissure through the surrounding and overhanging cliffs. Once inside, the siq narrows to little more than five meters in width, while the walls tower up hundreds of meters on either side. The floor, originally paved, is now largely covered with soft sand, although evidence of Nabataean construction can still be seen in some places.
	At the end of the siq, the passage widens and you catch a glimpse of the astonishing monument that dominates Petra, El Khazneh (The Treasury), Petra's most famous and impressive monument. Inspired by classical Hellenistic architecture, the Khazneh is a tomb for a Nabataean King depicting Nabataean gods and goddesses and mythological figures. The rock face in which it is carved is sheltered from winds and rain so the Khazneh is consequently the best preserved of all the monuments. You might recognize this monument from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Monuments along the Street of Facades connecting El Khazneh to the Theatre.

More monuments along the Street of Facades.

The Necropolis with the Roman Theatre in the background.

Detail of the sandstone coloration from one of the tombs in the Necropolis.

The Roman-style theatre, hewn out of the rock, in which about 2000 people could be seated. In the background, the facades of early tombs which were partly cut away during the construction of the theatre, can be seen.

Detail of the Roman-style theatre

The first of the royal tombs carved into the rock face known as the King's Wall is the Urn Tomb, a well-preserved monument that faces out over an open terrace fronted by a double row of vaults. A colonnaded cloister runs along the northern side of the terrace.

After some smaller tombs, the next major structure along the King's Wall is the badly weathered Corinthian Tomb, which resembles a smaller version of the Khazneh.

Adjacent to the Corinthian Tomb is the Palace Tomb, with a facade imitating a Roman palace of three stories. The Kings of Petra were buried in these enormous mausoleums.