The ancient city of Petra is located in modern-day Jordan.
Petra lies in a basin surrounded by mountains in the country’s southwestern region. Its most famous structure, Al-Khazneh, or the Treasury, was carved directly into rose-coloured sandstone, helping inspire Petra’s nickname, the “Rose City.”
The Nabataeans established Petra as their capital and developed it into a major trading centre. Its position along routes linking Arabia, the Levant, Egypt, and the Mediterranean helped the city prosper. Nabataean engineers also built sophisticated channels, cisterns, and dams to manage scarce water.
Petra was annexed by Rome in 106 CE and gradually declined after trade routes changed and earthquakes damaged the city. Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt brought it to wider Western attention in 1812. Petra became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 and was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.