Tour C:

Byblos - Jeita – Jounieh (Harissa) - Nahr el Kalb - Beirut

Our tour start by the visit of byblos (Jbeil), this beautiful Phoenician city considered the longest continually inhabited city in the world with its castle, souks, cathedral (dating back to the Crusaders era), port, restaurants, sandy beaches, and cafés.

Then we visit Jeita grottos with their fabulous sceneries and ends in Harissa (one way cable-car) with a panoramic view of Jounieh bay.

We visit also the stellas of Nahr El-Kelb.

We finish our tour in Beirut Capital of Lebanon and Heart of the Middle East; We visit the National Museum, the city center with its huge construction sites, renovation works in addition to newest archeological finds. A visit that will confirm the Lebanese will of making their capital again the economic, touristic, cultural & commercial center of the Middle East.

Description

Byblos (Jbeil)

One of the oldest towns in the world goes back at least 7,000 years. The rise and fall of nearly two dozen successive levels of human culture on this site makes it one of the richest archeological areas in the country. Under the domination of the Egyptian pharaohs in the 3rd and 32nd millennia B.C Byblos was a commercial and religious capital of the Phoenician coast. It was here that the first linear alphabet, ancestor of all modern alphabet, (through Greek and Latin), was invented. The sarcophagus of Byblos’ king Ahiram, now in the national museum, bears. The oldest known Phoenician inscription. Byblos was also the centre of the Adonis cult, the god of vegetation who dies in winter and renewed each spring.

Like its sister cities, Byblos was destroyed in the earthquake of 551 A.D it regained some consequence in crusader times when it came under the county of Tripoli. A modest town under the Mamlukes and ottomans, Byblos grew rapidly during the recent war in Lebanon when commercial activities moved from Beirut to regional capitals. The busy modern town, 36 kilometers north of Beirut, has as its touristic hub the roman medieval port. In this area are the crusader castle and church as well as the extensive remains of city’s past- from Neolithic times to the crusader era. A beautiful mosque adds to the cultural mix in the old part of Byblos. Cafes and restaurants, plus an interesting wax museum can also be visited.

Jeita

One of the world's most beautiful caverns, can be fond about 20 km north of Beirut .The lower caverns are visited by boat over a subterranean lake 623 meters long, while a dry upper gallery can be seen on foot.

After many years of exploration, Lebanese speleologists have penetrated 6,910 meters from the entry point of the grotto to the far end of the Underground River and 2,130 meters of the upper galleries. The main source of the Dog River (Nahr el Kalb) rises in this cavern.

JOUNIYEH (HARISSA)

600 m from the coast, 26 kms from Beirut, with a wonderful panoramic view covering the Bay of Jounieh. Statue of the Virgin Mary erected in 1908. Inside its base, a chapel with outside spiral staircase which leads to the top.

Nahr el Kalb

Or the history of Lebanon carved in stones. Since 1920 B.C. when Ramses II invaded Lebanon till the departure of the last foreign troops in 1946 all invaders have left a stella (Greeks, Romans, Assyrians, etc…) mentioning their stay in Lebanon.

Beyrouth

Beirut was built on a rocky promontory, a site also occupied by prehistoric man. In ancient times it was overshadowed by more powerful neighbors, but when the city- states of Sidon began to decline in the first millennium B.C, Beirut acquired more influence. It was not until Romans times, when Beirut became a roman colony in about 15 B.C, that it became an important port and cultural centre. During the roman and Byzantine eras it was distinguished for its law school, whose professors helped draft the famous Justinian code.

Beirut was destroyed by a devastating earthquake in 551 A.D. a century later it was conquered by the Moslem Arabs and in 1109 it fell to the crusaders. The city remained in crusader hands until 1291, when it was taken by the Mamlukes. In 1516 the 400- year ottoman rule began. Later, in the 17th century, Beirut knew a period of great prosperity under the government of emir Fakhreddine II. Then with the break –up of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the World War I, the city became the capital of modern Lebanon. Beirut, with nearly a million inhabitants, remains the cultural and commercial centre of the country. Today the war- ruined city centre is being reconstructed under a 25-year project that envisages a new modern city that will also retain its familiar oriental flavour .such landmarks as martyrs’ , the souks and the parliament building ,are part of the design, which covers 1.8 million square meters. In extensive archeological investigations, historical periods ranging from Canaanite (3,000- 1200 B.C) t ottoman (1516-1918 A.D) have been revealed.