Religious, Spiritual sights in Baalbek
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Temple of Jupiter
The Temple of Jupiter was built on an immense substructure over 90m long, and was approached by another monumental staircase that rose high above the surrounding buildings. It consisted of a cella in which the statue of the god was housed and a surrounding portico of 10 columns along the façade and 19 columns along the side, making for 54 columns in all. These columns are the largest in the world - 22.9m high with a girth of 2.2m.
Today only six of these remain standing with the architrave still in position. It was thought in the old days that Baalbek had been constructed by giants and a quick look over the side of the temple to the foundation stones beneath reveals some…
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Temple of Bacchus
Temple of Bacchus . This temple was in fact dedicated to Venus/Astarte, not Bacchus, and is the most beautifully decorated temple in the Roman world. Completed around AD 150, it is also in a great state of preservation. While it wasn't built on the scale of the Temple of Jupiter, it more than makes up for this with style and decoration.
Ironically it was called 'the small temple' in antiquity, although it is larger than the Parthenon in Athens. The entrance is up a flight of 30 stairs with three landings. It has a portico running around it with eight columns along the façade and 15 along the sides. They support a rich entablature; the frieze is decorated with lions and…
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Temple of Venus
Near the main ruins, about 300m from the acropolis, is the tiny exquisite Temple of Venus - probably dedicated to Fortuna rather than Venus - a circular building with many fluted columns. Inside, it was decorated with tiers of tabernacles and covered with a cupola. During the early Christian era it was turned into a basilica and dedicated to St Barbara (who joined the saintly ranks when her pagan father tried to kill her for converting to Christianity - he got his comeuppance when a bolt of lightning reduced him to a smouldering heap).
A copy of this gem of a temple was constructed in the 18th century in the grounds of Stourhead in Wiltshire, England.
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Great Mosque
To the east of the propylaea stands the ruined Umayyad or Great Mosque, which was built from the stones of the temples using many styles of columns and capitals. Lebanon's only Umayyad ruin, outside Aanjar, it was built between the 7th and 8th centuries. There is an ablution fountain surrounded by four columns in the centre of the courtyard. On the right, immediately after the entrance, are rows of arched colonnades with Roman columns and capitals, clearly taken from the temple complex.
At the northwestern corner are the ruins of a great octagonal minaret on a square base.
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