The lost city of Petra is a spectacular ancient city that represents the amazing Arabian architecture which existed over 2000 years ago. Petra is located in Jordanian governorate of Ma’an, it was established as early as 312BC to be the capital city of the Nabatean kingdom. Petra is one of the seven wonders of the modern world and is also known as the rose city. Here are some facts about it:

• It’s called the “Rose city” due to the rose-red colored stone out of which it is carved.

• The reason it’s called the “Lost city” is due to the fact that it was hidden to the outside world for five centuries until it was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.

• ‘The treasury’ which is among Petra’s most popular architecture is nothing but a façade with relatively small hall which was once used as royal hall.

• The water conservation system used in the city at that time made it sufficient for around 30,000 people. They even grew lush green gardens in the middle of the desert making it an artificial oasis.

• Petra is an enormous city of tombs, monuments and sacred structures carved into stone cliffs, it has around 800 carved tombs and is denoted as “Royal Tombs”.

• The city was also a cosmopolitan hub at the time which welcomed people from other places.

• Petra influenced a lot of movies and appeared in many of them. Among the movies it influenced are: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Arabian Nights, and Mortal Kombat Annhilation.

• Due to its historical importance it was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

Petra is an amazing and wondrous location that shows how great ancient Arabic civilization were. It is a place everyone must visit, in fact the Smithsonian magazine chose Petra as one of the ’28 Places to See Before You Die’. If you would like to explore the ruins of Petra from the comfort of your home you can click here.

Written by: Osama Waheib

Google added over 30 historical sites in Jordan to its virtual Street View service, including the entire city of Petra.

The project was announced by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan on the official Google Maps blog, and she also narrated the promotional video for the project launch which you can watch below.

Besides the Rose-Red City, virtual tourists can visit attractions like Mount Nebo, The Madaba Mosaic Map, crusader castles like Al Karak and Ajlun Castle built by Saladin or the Umayyad desert castles of Qasr Amra and Qasr Al Kharana. You can find a complete list of all historical sites that are available on Street View on a dedicated portal.

Other historical sites in the Arab world that can be experienced online include the Pyramids of Giza, the Liwa Desert, and the Burj Khalifa.