The city of Petra is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world and Jordan’s premier tourist attraction. Carved out of the mountains more than 2000 years ago by then Nabataean Arabs, Petra is a unique example of an astonishing ancient civilization. Petra is also known as the Rose City due to the colour of the stone from which it is carved and the Lost City as it remained unknown to the western world until1812. The first European to see it was a Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt who disguised himself as an Arab scholar. Petra was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.