Located out of town, away from the main site of Petra, is Little Petra, also known as Al-Beidha - a much smaller version of the famous Nabateaen city. There is no entrance fee, which is nice compared to the 50JD asked, but you can't really compared the sites either. However for those who cannot afford the above price it is a nice little compromise to get the feel of Petra.
Basically the site is a small siq (natural cleft in the rock) - with a complex of cisterns, dams and dining halls located in 3 small natural courtyards. The interesting thing is that there are barely any tourists and it is possible to walk in and out of the halls as you wish.
The site was a halting station and also one of the main commercial areas of Petra, passage point for the caravans on the trade route to the north and north-west. The traders would stop here and settle so they could engage in trade.
Here are a couple of links to web-sites:
http://nabataea.net/beidha.html
http://www.grandview.com.jo/little_petra.html - I like this one a lot - it is extracts from a book, called "Petra Book", by Jane Taylor.
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| Entrance to Little Petra |
Basically the site is a small siq (natural cleft in the rock) - with a complex of cisterns, dams and dining halls located in 3 small natural courtyards. The interesting thing is that there are barely any tourists and it is possible to walk in and out of the halls as you wish.
The site was a halting station and also one of the main commercial areas of Petra, passage point for the caravans on the trade route to the north and north-west. The traders would stop here and settle so they could engage in trade.
Here are a couple of links to web-sites:
http://nabataea.net/beidha.html
http://www.grandview.com.jo/little_petra.html - I like this one a lot - it is extracts from a book, called "Petra Book", by Jane Taylor.
4 comments:
Gorgeous photos. Another one for my list.
Thanks Mwa! U should definitely make it to Jordan it is very special...
Wow! I didn't know about this little Petra. Beautiful pictures.
I am assuming the 50JD entrance fee is for foreigners only which still very expensive. Out of curiosity how much locals pay? I am a Jordanian but never been to Petra :(
Jaraad! You should go to Petra, and you will only pay 1jd - well it was 1 when we went for Jordanians and residents, i don'tthink it has changed. I think that 50 for tourists is far too expensive, specially considering that there is soo much work to be done on the infrastructures.
Really you must go its amazing.
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