Sights in Baalbek
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Baalbek Ruins
The site houses the hexagonal court, a monumental propylaea, the hexagonal court, the Great Court (Sacrificial Courtyard, the Temple of Jupiter, the Temple of Bacchus and a free museum. A good free map of the site, entitled Heliopolis Baalbek 1898-1998: Rediscovering the Ruins is produced by the German Archaeological Institute and is available all over town.
ATerrific multilingual guides can be found (or will find you) around the ticket office. The entrance to the main site is currently at the southeastern end of the temple complex. Note that at the time of writing, a new entrance to the museum complex was planned and under execution: the new entrance, when finally…
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Sheikh Abdullah Hill Quarry
Stopping off to see the world's largest cut stone at the quarry on Sheikh Abdullah Hill, you'll undoubtedly hear the tale of Baalbek native Abdul Nabi Al-Afi, who saved it from life at the bottom of a rubbish dump. Measuring 21.5m by 4m by 4.5m, lying on its side, locals call this stone Hajar al-Hubla (Stone of the Pregnant Woman), and local folklore has it that women can touch the stone to increase their fertility.
Al-Afi, a retired army sergeant, single-handedly saved the site from obscurity, and his friendly young son, who runs the tiny gift shop at its edge, will be happy to provide information on his father's remarkable one-man litter-picking story.In case you're on…
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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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B
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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Ras al-Ain Spring
To the southeast of Baalbek's centre is the source of the Ras al-Ain Spring. The area has pleasant, shady parks along the spring and is the site of occasional festivities with horses and camels and side stalls. At the head of the spring is a ruined early mosque, which at some point was thought to be the Temple of Neptune.
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