Byzantine Church (Petra)

It sits on elevated ground in the city center, north of the so-called Colonnaded Street.

It continued to be used as a religious structure until about the early seventh century CE, when it was destroyed by fire.

[2] Zbigniew Fiema notes that scholars distinguish “early” and “late” phases of construction.

[2] The Church includes a baptismal complex, an atrium (or foyer space), and a cathedral.

The architecture of the Church includes Nabataean rock-chiseled elements and Roman and Hellenistic mosaic styles.

[1] Conservators list the following as challenges they encountered throughout restoration: the detachment between mosaic layers, swelling, deterioration of the preparatory layers, the efflorescence of soluble salts to the surface, and the poor condition of tesserae due to fracturing, exfoliating, and erosion.