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Photo by Jane Taylor/Sonia Halliday Photographs

A stunning blend of Greco-Roman and Nabataean traditions, the Temenos Gate stands at the western end of the city’s Colonnaded Street (see this issue’s cover). A triple-arched gateway with four free-standing columns framing its western facade (shown here), it bears a strong resemblance to the triumphal arches of Rome’s Severan Period (193–211 A.D.), but the Temenos Gate is thought to pre-date these structures by at least a century. Unlike most traditional Roman arches, the gate is not a triumphal monument but a true doorway—leading to the Kasr el-Bint Faroun (Palace of the Pharaoh’s Daughter).