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The authors describe the importance of the site of al-Wu’ayra, at the east border of the ancient town of Petra (Jordan) where the Archaeological Mission “Medieval Petra” (University of Florence) is working since 1986. From the archaeological point of view, the physical conformation of the site is the main condition for the formation, during nearly two thousand years, of a highly significant archaeological deposit with a continuous chronological extension from Nabataean time up to Late Islamic and a high scientific potential. On the other hand, the site itself preserves the only still standing 12th century tower of the whole area of Petra, thus being a very significant element of the historical landscape and the only monumental evidence of a short but important season of the long history of the town. During the last three decades, the addition of human disturbance to the spontaneous and natural decay of buildings makes urgent a restoration and a protection programme for the whole site.

Monks across the desert. Hermitic life in Christian Petra A new interpretation of the pre-Crusader phase of the site follows from the identification of a pre-Crusader rock-cut chapel. In particular, in early mediaeval time, a monastic community at al-Wu’ayra and a number of hermitic cells surrounding a central fortified coenobium preceded the later military castle keep. The Crusaders profited by the presence of a Christian fortified settlement, easy to transform into a military installation by a simple addition of a number of buildings, which are identifiable by a chrono-typology of building techniques.The new program of research which started in 2017 aims at registering, surveying, and studying various hermitic installations around the perimeter of the town in order to contextualize this early medieval phase of al-Wu’ayrain the topography of Petra and contribute to the knowledge of a ‘minor’and underestimated aspect of the town in early Christian time. In fact, these monastic-hermitic settlements located in segregated spots of the peri-urbanarea, surviving the abandonment of the major churches of the town, can help to understand in a more realistic way the articulated forms of Christian presence and its duration until the late 19th century.