Around the bend to the left, several restored columns dot either side of the paved Roman main street. Two thousand years ago, columns lined the full length of the street, with markets and residences branching off. Nearby the raised Nymphaeum ruins outline the ancient public fountain near its base. Across the road to the right, before the triple-arched gate, recent excavations have uncovered the Temple of Al-Uzza (Atargatis), also called the Temple of the Winged Lions. In the spring you can watch the progress of the American-sponsored excavations, which have already uncovered several workshops and some cracked Nabatean crocks.

Also recently excavated, by a joint Jordanian-American team, is a large Byzantine church rich with mosaics. The site lies several hundred meters to the right of the Roman street, close to the Temple of the Winged Lions, from which some of the church’s column bases and capitals were probably lifted.

The church’s side aisles are each paved with 70 square meters of remarkably preserved mosaic, in part depicting native, exotic, and mythological animals, humans in various occupations (flautist, camel driver, and flsherman, for example), and representations of the four seasons. Overlooking the central city, the immense church with its mosaic floors is thought to have been a major 5th- and 6th-century cathedral, likely the seat of the bishop of the Byzantine province of Palaestina Tertia. The wealth apparent in the church’s interior has thrown into question theories of Petra’s decline, and of urban decline in general; this spectacular church was likely built in the late 5th century, presumably during the later stages of Petra’s deterioration. Renovations should be complete by winter 1994.