Basin Area


The Basin is an area just beyond Qasr Al Bint where the main wadi widens at the bottom of the valley. The area, which houses the two restaurants (Basin Restaurant and Nabataean Tent Restaurant), makes a handy pause point before the ascent to the Monastery. This is also the access point for the so-called backdoor to Petra and is where most of the four-legged transport congregates for further-flung points of the Ancient City.


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1. Altar

0.05 MILES

The sacrificial altar in front of the Qasr Al Bint was once overlaid with marble, indicating that it was probably the main place of worship in the…

2. Qasr Al Bint

0.07 MILES

One of the few free-standing structures in Petra, Qasr Al Bint was built in around 30 BCE by the Nabataeans. It was later adapted to the cult of Roman…

3. Temenos

0.08 MILES

The temenos was the sacred courtyard of the Qasr Al Bint and separated the commercial area of the city from the sacred area of the temple.

4. Temenos Gateway

0.1 MILES

Built in the 2nd century AD, the gateway originally had huge wooden doors and side towers. It marked the entrance to the temenos (sacred courtyard) of the…

5. Temple of the Winged Lions

0.11 MILES

The recently excavated Temple of the Winged Lions, built around AD 27, is named after the carved lions that once topped the capitals of each of the…

6. Al Habis

0.12 MILES

Beyond Qasr Al Bint is the small hill of Al Habis (the Prison). From the Nabataean Tent Restaurant, steps lead up the hill past a disused museum around…

8. Unfinished Tomb

0.13 MILES

Offers a rare glimpse of the way the Nabataeans constructed their rock tombs, starting at the top on a platform of scaffolding and working their way down.

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