Tour D:

 Beirut - Anjar - Beqaa (Zahleh - Baal beck)

Our tour start in Beirut, capital of Lebanon & heart of the Middle East, rises again from the ashes. We visit the National Museum, the city centre with its huge construction sites and renovation works in addition to all the archeological finds, A visit that will confirm the Lebanese will to make their capital again the economic, touristic, cultural & commercial centre of the Middle East.

Crossing the Beqaa plain we will visit Anjar Anjar the Omayyads' Town, then Zahleh (The monastery of Our Lady of the Delivery or Saydet el-najat, monastery Elie Al touwak) and we will visit Baal beck (Rock of the pregnant , Temples of Jupiter, Venus and Bacchus).

Description

Beyrouth

Beirut was built on a rocky promontory, a site also occupied by prehistoric man. In ancient times it was overshadowed by more powerful neighbours, 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.

ANJAR

Anjar in the Beqaa valley some 58 km from Beirut, was built by the Omayyad caliph al- Walid Ibn Abdel Malek in the early 8th century A.D . The town plan, which is reminiscent of Romans camps, features two main streets that cross at right angels. Inside the city’s strong fortifications are the remains of streets, three palaces, souks, two hammams and a mosque.

Located on the old route linking the Beqaa with Damascus, Anjar was built in the neighborhood of an ancient stronghold called Gerrah, whose location is still problematic. Today the name of Gerrah is retained in the word ‘Anjar’ which simply means ‘source of Gerrah’ ( Ain Gerrah).

BAAL BECK

Heliopolis: the roman temples of Baal beck, in the Beqaa valley 85 kilometers from Beirut, make up the largest and best preserved corpus of roman architecture left to us. The acropolis occupies the top of a tell or artificial hill built up of different layers of habitation. Its temples, dedicated to Jupiter, Bacchus and Venus, were constructed between the first and the third centuries A.D.

In the large temple known as the’ Jupiter temple’ only six of the 54 giant columns that originally surrounded the sanctuary survive today. The temple has an impressive podium and a vast rectangular courtyard where sacrifices were carried out. The sanctuary is reached through a propylaea (monumental entrance) and hexagonal forecourt. The town of Baal beck has major remains from Islamic times including the grand mosque, built by the Ommayadds with material borrowed from ancient monuments, and another mosque built in Mamluke times near the spring of Ras el –Ain.

ZAHLE

Founded in the 18th century, Zahleh, the village with red tiled roofs, was erected on the shores of “al Bardawni” river. Nowadays, restaurants, coffee-rooms and old houses flourish on each riverbank. There, you can relax and have a refreshing drink or a tasty meal under the shadeof trees alongside the rushing river.

The Beqaa Valley, commonly known as the agricultural breadbasket, has since ancient times, established itself as an agricultural region of primary importance thanks to the fertility of its soil and its vast plains. In addition to a variety of attractions that will surely seduce the visitor whatever are his preferences.

Zahleh is also regarded as the capital of the agricultural region of the Beqaa as well as the wine-producing region well known since Antiquity. Many 18th century churches and monasteries are scattered throughout the village and you can see various Bronze Age, Byzantine and Roman relics as well as Canaanite sarcophagi.