The great façade
47 m high.
Fallaner — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bert Seal — Public domain · xorge — CC BY-SA 2.0 · LiAnna Davis — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ankur P — CC BY 2.0 · Alexey Komarov — CC BY 3.0 · LiAnna Davis — CC BY-SA 3.0 · 林高志 — CC BY-SA 4.0
A colossal carved façade high in the hills northwest of Petra, 47 m tall and 48 m wide, probably cut in the mid-first century AD, and the second most visited monument in Petra after the Treasury. The building probably served a religious purpose and may have been used as a church in the Byzantine period, which gave it the name «the Monastery». The doorway alone is 8 m high and leads to a single large rock-cut hall, and the ground in front was levelled for gatherings. You reach it by a path of about 800 rock-cut steps, roughly 40 minutes' climb from the restaurant area in central Petra, passing small tombs and views over the valleys. The climb is tiring in the heat, so start in the morning with plenty of water. Near the Monastery are viewpoints over Wadi Araba, and a small café faces the façade for a rest before the way down.
47 m high.
Cut in rock.
From the top.
Jabal ad-Deir, northwest Petra
It takes reasonable fitness: about 800 steps and some 40 minutes up. Start in the morning with plenty of water, and rest at the café facing the façade.
