Ad Deir, the Monastery, Petra, Nabatea, Jordan, 3rd c. BC. After an 800 step climb into the mountain, you find arguably Petra’s greatest monument, both older and larger than the Treasury. Named for some crosses scraped inside by Byzantines, its original purpose is a mystery… [1920×1280] [OC]

…There are no burial chambers, but two side benches (making it a biclinium) and an altar where a baetyl could be placed suggest it may have originally been a cultic brotherhood’s place for hosting meetings and rituals. To get a sense of how deeply cut into Jebal al Dayr this monument is, look at how far out the mountain comes on either side of the facade. The building is shrouded by the triangular mountain. Outside, in the vast courtyard, wildflowers bloom in spring and wheatears flit about the ruins.

Architecturally, the Monastery displays Nabataean and Hellenistic influences as does the Treasury, but, with its massive facade (over 49 yd high and 55 wide against 44×27), on a grander scale (check for the Bedouin sitting in the shade on the right). Both sport a complex classical facade featuring an urn crowning a circular structure called a tholos, but the old giant lacks the decorative finesse of its younger cousin. Yet the trail leading up into the mountains following an old processional route through a ravine gives it an air of mystique…

As usual, apologies for inaccuracies and mistakes.