Petra Church, Petra 
The Petra Church is a Byzantine church in the ancient city of Petra, located a few hundred meters off the colonnaded street near the Temple of the Winged Lions.
The Petra Church seems to have first been built over Nabataean and Roman remains around 450 AD. It may have been a major 5th- and 6th-century cathedral, which is intriguing given the other evidence of Petra's decline after a 363 AD earthquake.
When first constructed around 450, the church had only one apse and an entrance porch. The Mosaic of the Seasons in the southern aisle is from this period.
In 500-50 AD, the church was remodeled. Two side apses were installed and the two-story atrium built. The nave was paved and the chancel screens, a pulpit, and wall mosaics were installed, as were the mosaics of the northern aisle and the eastern end of the southern aisle.
Around 600 AD, a second remodeling may have been in progress when the church suffered a major fire, and it stood derelict until it was finally destroyed by earthquakes.
The Petra Church was discovered by Kenneth W. Russell in 1990, who passed away in 1992. The site was excavated in 1992-98 by the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
In December 1993, 152 papyrus scrolls were uncovered inside the church. The scrolls, which constitute the largest group of written material from antiquity found in Jordan, were carbonized due to the early 7th-century fire and are still being deciphered. The scrolls are the records of one extended family and provide a glimpse into life in late-era Petra. Among the documents is a will dividing property among three brothers; the property included vineyards and slaves.
The Petra Church is currently being excavated and preserved and a protective tent covers the roofless walls. It is a tripartite basilica, about 26 meters by 15 meters, with three apses to the east and three entrances to the west.
There is also an atrium and a bapistery to the west of the nave. The church's baptistery dates from the mid-5th century and is one of the largest and best preserved in the entire Near East.
The materials used to constuct the church, including the capitals, door jambs, and reliefs, must have come from the ruined monuments of the Nabataean and Roman periods.
Each of the side aisles of Petra Church is paved with 70 square meters of remarkably preserved mosaics, depicting native as well as exotic or mythological animals, as well as personifications of the Seasons, Ocean, Earth and Wisdom. Also surviving are significant remains of the nave's paving in marble and stone in geometric designs.
Map
Location map and satellite view of Petra Church. Using the buttons on the left, zoom in for a closer look or zoom out to get your bearings. Click and drag the map to move around. You can explore all of Petra from space on our Petra Satellite Map.
- Sign at the site
- Petra - Official Website of King Hussein
- "Queen Noor inaugurates the Petra Church Project" - Official Website of Queen Noor
- "Archaeologists to speak at Calvin as part of Petra" - Calvin College Experience Petra
- "The Byzantine church officially opens" - U.S. Mission to Jordan
