Great Temple

The Great Temple rises on a hillside terrace above the colonnaded street, defined by its massive stone columns topped with elephant-headed capitals. While most of Petra was carved into the rock, this was built of sandstone blocks, hauled into place by the Nabataeans two thousand years ago. Archaeologists uncovered a private theater with rows of stone seats inside the central area. The site served as a grand reception hall for dignitaries long before an earthquake shook the entire city into ruin in three hundred sixty-three.