The Colonnaded Street ends at the Arched Gate, probably built in the 2nd century AD, after the completion of the street, to act as a ceremonial entrance to the sacred precinct (temenos) of the Qasr Al-Bint Temple. This is the only substantial stone-built structure in Petra still standing. Constructed some time around 30 BC - 40 AD, it was built to impress. It was the most important temple of the town, dedicated to Dushara, the chief God of the Nabataeans, who later became assimilated with the more familiar Greek god of wine, Dionysus, especially important in Petra due to the custom of funerary banquets where wine would have been drunk.
