Jordan Tours and News

The caves, temples, and tombs of Petra reveal an impressive civilization.

DISCOVER THE RAW BEAUTY OF PETRA

The “Rose City” is a honeycomb of hand-hewn caves, temples, and tombs carved from blushing pink sandstone in the high desert of Jordan some 2,000 years ago. Hidden by time and shifting sand, Petra tells of a lost civilization. Little is known about the Nabateans—a nomadic desert people whose kingdom rose up from these cliffs and peaks, and whose incredible wealth grew from the lucrative incense trade.

Raqmu, or Petra (as the Greeks knew it), grew into the Nabateans’ most prominent city, linking camel caravans between the Mediterranean and Arabian Seas, from Egypt to Syria and beyond to Greece. Control of water sources and an almost magic ability to vanish into the cleft rocks ensured the Nabateans remained unconquered for centuries.

The Romans arrived in 63 B.C., signaling a new era of massive expansion and grandiose construction, like the theater that sat more than 6,000 spectators, as well as some of the city’s most impressive facades. Carved into the rock face, the Treasury and the Monastery both have unmistakable Hellenistic features, with ornate Corinthian columns, bas-relief Amazons, and fanciful acroteria. Knowing that such architectural feats were achieved by carving from the top down makes it even more impressive.

Petra’s engineering phenomena are legion, including the sophisticated water system that supported some 30,000 inhabitants. Carved into the twisted passageway of the Siq, the irrigation channel drops only 12 feet over the course of a mile, while underground cisterns stored runoff to be used in drier times of the year.

And yet it’s the raw beauty of Petra that draws in so many millions of visitors—the entire city of ruins is a work of art, painted on a natural stone backdrop that changes color every hour. The elegant Silk Tomb swirls with streaks of red, blue, and ocher, while vivid mosaics still pave the floors of a Byzantine-era church.

Christianity came to Petra in the third and fourth centuries and flourished, but the city waned after an A.D. 336 earthquake and under the early Islamic dynasties of the seventh century.

Petra was only rediscovered by Swiss explorer Johann Burckhardt in 1812, and it continues to spill its secrets. Even now, archaeologists have explored less than half of the sprawling site, and in 2016, with the help of satellite imagery, a monumental structure was found still buried in the sand. It’s no wonder that Petra remains Jordan’s top tourist attraction and one of the most revered of the World Heritage sites.

How to Get There

Petra is a three-hour drive from Amman and two hours from the Red Sea port of Aqaba. Buses run the route daily, along with organized tours and private taxis. The Jordan Trail passes through Petra, allowing hikers to connect with Dana or Wadi Rum.

How to Visit  

Reducing Petra to a single day trip is a common mistake. Remember that Petra spreads out for over a hundred square miles—four times the size of Manhattan. While donkeys, camels, and horse buggies can hasten travel time between highlights, most of Petra’s sites are best reached on foot. Come ready to hike some steep terrain.

Spend at least one night in town, and plan your sightseeing as a series of hikes. Petra’s licensed guides have exceptional knowledge and will add a deeper dimension to your visit by showing you secret tombs and hidden details you would never find on your own. Don’t miss the “Petra by night” show that delivers a haunting and unforgettable visual.

When to Visit

Petra is open year-round, so choose your own adventure: Spring and fall offer the most temperate weather, with fantastic light. Summer is beautiful but can turn unbearably hot. January and February are the coolest months, with the occasional downpour. Remember the high elevation means nights are cold. Sunrise and sunset are when Petra truly glows with changing color, so come early and stay late.

Source: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Charred remains of a flatbread baked about 14,500 years ago in a stone fireplace at a site in northeastern Jordan have given researchers a delectable surprise: people began making bread, a vital staple food, millennia before they developed agriculture.

Tomb 70 in Petra represents an impressive, freestanding monolith structure that rises up to 15 metres and expands to 8-metres wide, an expert said."It is one of very few tombs in Petra with freestanding crenulations a low wall between chest-height and head-height a top the structure,

Sun seekers have a new option for the coming winter, as easyJet launches the first nonstop scheduled link from the UK to Aqaba in Jordan.

The maiden flight from Gatwick to the resort takes off on 10 November. The once-a-week link will also provide access to the ancient city of Petra and the desert landscapes of Wadi Rum. 

Jordan’s minister of tourism and antiquities, Lina Annab, said: “This collaboration will contribute towards increasing the number of tourists to Jordan’s ‘Golden Triangle’ – Aqaba, Petra and Wadi Rum – and we’re working together to increase the number of routes into Aqaba with easyJet over the next few years.”

The airline is hoping the link to Aqaba will prove more successful than flights to the Jordanian capital, Amman. That route was closed in 2014 due to heavy losses.

In a bid to secure some of the “Santa Claus” market, easyJet is also launching two flights a week from Gatwick to Rovaneimi in Finnish Lapland on 31 October.

The city straddles the Arctic Circle and has established itself as favourite Yuletide destination for British families. “Santa Park”, a collection of man-made caverns filled with festive attractions, is located in Rovaniemi’s municipal bomb shelter. 

The city is also home to the Arktikum Museum, dedicated to the story of Lapland. 

With dwindling options for new destinations in Europe, easyJet is also launching links in competition against rival budget carriers.

Poland has long been an aviation battleground between Ryanair and the Eastern European carrier, Wizz Air. Now easyJet is launching a route from Gatwick to Warsaw.

The four-times-a-week link will be the only flight from the Sussex airport to the Polish capital, but is in competition against frequent departures on Wizz Air from Luton, and British Airways and LOT from Heathrow.

In France, where easyJet is in second place to Air France, the budget airline is stepping up competition with the French national carrier. It is launching a link from Paris to Pau in the Pyrenees, previously an Air France monopoly.

Source: www.independent.co.uk

The Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) on Saturday organised several activities to celebrate the 11th anniversary of Petra’s selection as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. On July 7, 2007, Petra won a spot in the popularity poll, led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber and organised by the New7Wonders Foundation based in Switzerland, out of 21 finalist ancient sites across the globe, and became one of the New Seven Wonders.

The Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) is working on a plan to boost promotions to the country’s attractions with the aim of attracting tourists from the Gulf counties, Asia and Europe, an official said on Thursday.“As part of the plan, we will soon start running commercials and launch promotional activities to attract tourists from these markets,” JTB Director General Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

Over the course of the first six months of 2018, Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) welcomed 3,884,518 million passengers, registering a 7.6 per cent year-on-year increase, according to figures released by Airport International Group.Since the beginning of the year until the end of June,

Head of the Arab Federation for Tourism Development Ahmad Adas said that the federation has a plan to develop tourism in Jordan in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Jordan Tourism Board to implement successful policies in collaboration with Arab countries.

The culture of parks and the atmosphere of Ramadan were brought to life when Night at the Park kicked off in Amman on Wednesday. The event, which concluded on Friday at The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts Park in Jabal Luweibdeh, included a set of activities such as storytelling, a literature corner, an art section, musical performances and other entertaining family activities, according to organiser Hind Jucka.

The entire Jordanian economy will revive when boosting tourism, which is tied to all other sectors and offers job opportunities to the youth, said the founder of "I was in Petra" initiative Mohammad Farajat, who uncovered new "out-of-the-box" tourism projects in nine aspects to boost tourism in the Kingdom.

The weathered stone walls of the Azraq Castle, located some 100 kilometres East of Amman, have witnessed much of human history, serving as a strategic site in Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic times.A scholar said that studies of the history of the fortification are not complete.

AMMAN — Implementation of a master plan to transform Jubeiha Amusement Park, which authorities shut down permanently last year, into a public park is scheduled for next year.The Jubeiha Amusement Park will become a gated public park that offers entertainment services and an outdoor space for various activities for all categories of the community, including families, the youth and children, Greater Amman Municipality (GAM).

 The Amman International Summer Festival is an opportunity to introduce custumers to the national industry, organisers said. The festival, which kicked off on July 26 and will continue till August 4, includes some 65 companies, of which, 45 are Jordanian.

The number of visitors to Petra in the first half of 2018 increased by 45 per cent compared with the same period of last year, an official said. Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority Chief Commissioner Falah Al Omoush said that 322,579 foreign and 65,492 Arab and Jordanian visitors visited the ancient city of Petra in the first six months of this year.

AMMAN — Driven by a passion for sustainable tourism that stimulates economic growth, while conserving and protecting cultural heritage and natural resources, Jordanian Muna Haddad started exploring the tourism landscape around the Kingdom. AMMAN — Driven by a passion for sustainable tourism that stimulates economic growth, while conserving and protecting cultural heritage and natural resources, Jordanian Muna Haddad started exploring the tourism landscape around the Kingdom. 

The number of tourists to Petra in July increased by 29 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA).

Despite its international recognition, the Baptism Site on the eastern side of the Jordan River receives “way fewer” visitors than the one located in the occupied West Bank, experts said. Jordan’s Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond Jordan” has been authenticated as the place where Jesus Christ was baptised, based on historical accounts of ancient pilgrims who documented their visits, the New Testament and archaeological findings and buildings, according to archaeologists. 

AMMAN — Taking advantage of the bustling numbers of visitors coming to enjoy their evening time after Iftar, the Abdali Boulevard is coming alive with the enchanting ambiance of “The Arabesque Nights” these days.AMMAN — Taking advantage of the bustling numbers of visitors coming to enjoy their evening time after Iftar, the Abdali Boulevard is coming alive with the enchanting ambiance of “The Arabesque Nights” these days.

Local female producers from across the Kingdom rejoiced this week, after seeing most of their production run out at the Jordan Food Week, a weeklong culinary festival which gave them the opportunity to display their homemade products to tens of thousands of Ammanis.

The Resilience Through Tourism Summit (RTTS), an international conference that took place in Amman on Tuesday and Wednesday, has announced the winners of the world’s first International Peace Through Tourism Awards which have been launched to highlight global tourism’s contribution to peace and prosperity.

AMMAN — Jordan has climbed four spots in the 2018 Global Peace Index (GPI) ranking as the 98th most peaceful country in the world.AMMAN — Jordan has climbed four spots in the 2018 Global Peace Index (GPI) ranking as the 98th most peaceful country in the world.
The report, published annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), indicated that Jordan ranked at the 7th level in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The Majd Initiative on Friday organised a trip to the ancient city of Petra to fulfill dreams of a number of persons with disabilities to see the red-rose city and promote accessible tourism. The initiative was established by Abdul Rahman Salameh and named "Majd" after a girl with a physical disability who was refused admission to school, and later died during a surgery to treat her disability.

New findings of various local and international researchers focusing on commercial ties between the Nabataean Kingdom and Rome, India and Egypt, as well as the economy and agriculture of Petra’s hinterland were discussed at the third international conference on Petra and the Nabataean heritage, which concluded on Thursday.

In three consecutive visits to the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ on the east bank of River Jordan, I noticed that its visitors are fewer than those who come to a location on the west bank of the river, whose founders claim that it is the place where Jesus Christ was baptised. I asked officials at the site about the reasons behind this huge difference in the number of visitors between the two locations on both sides of the river.

Jordan will see the longest “blood Moon” total lunar eclipse on July 27, coinciding with Mars’ perihelic opposition, Hanna Sabat, former president of the Jordanian Astronomical Society (JAS), said on Tuesday. The lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the shadow of the Earth; entering the outer part of partial darkness, which is called the “penumbra”, and moving onto the inner part of total darkness, or the “umbra”, he said.

 The annual Souk Jara reopened its doors to the public this Friday, kick-starting three months of the weekly open air bazaar.

Started some 14 years ago in collaboration with the Greater Amman Municipality, the artisanal market has become an iconic event that Ammanis look forward to every year, giving them a chance to enjoy a friendly outdoor venue to purchase handicrafts and home-made products.

New event will focus on first features from the Arab world.

The Royal Film Commission Jordan (RFC) is launching a film festival aimed at debut features from the Arab world as well as promoting the country’s burgeoning pool of professional film and TV crew.

The Mamluk period (1250-1517) is still a relatively unexplored field for scholars who know very little about the residence patterns of the ruling elite who dwelt in the capital cities of Cairo, Damascus and Karak, an American archaeologist stated, noting that military officers then lived in "both barracks in citadels and palaces of the urban centres”.

Although Khaled Munajid, a Jordanian sculptor in his sixties, has been described by his peers as "the living Michelangelo", he is still unable to make a decent living. The highly intricate art pieces he creates take an "extremely long time".Their inherent higher prices make them much harder to sell, he told The Jordan Times in a recent interview, noting that he "cannot produce quickly-made pieces" which would cover his family's expenses.

Tourism revenues rose by 12.7 per cent during the first ten months of this year to around $3.9 billion, up from $2.4 billion generated during the same period in 2016, the Central Bank of Jordan said.