Ruins of the Great Temple, Petra Petra's 'Great Temple' is one of the site's most mysterious buildings. Situated in the colonnaded street it was the most significant building in the urban area of the city, where buildings were constructed from blocks, rather than carved into the rock like the more famous tombs were, and therefore far less well preserved. The temple itself consists of a rectangular building beyond a large colonnaded forecourt raised on a terrace (many of the column capitals had unusual elephant head designs). At the rear are remains of an apparently more secular complex including a small semi-circular auditorium, presumably the seat of local government. / VFL.Ru