Baalbek
May 2002
Part of our one day trip to
Lebanon was was a trip into the heart of the Bekka Valley to see the
ancient temple at Baalbek. In more recent times, the anti-Western
Islamic fundamentalist Hezbollah made its headquarters here, and the town
has only reopened to tourists in the last couple of years. 10 years
ago, if you were a westerner and you were here, odds on you were a
hostage.
Anyway ... history lesson
time (courtesy of the Lonely Planet) - Baalbek, 86km (53mi) north-east of Beirut, was originally named after
the Phoenician god Baal. The town was renamed Heliopolis by the Greeks and
still later it was made a centre of Jupiter worship by the Romans. During
its Roman era, Baalbek was the premier city in Roman Syria.
Baalbek's temple complex is one of the largest in the world. The
complex is about 300m (984ft) long and has two temples with porticoes, two
courtyards and an enclosure built during the Arab period. The Temple of
Jupiter, completed around 60 AD, is on a high platform at the top of a
monumental staircase; only six of its colossal columns (22m/72ft) remain,
giving an idea of the vast scale of the original building. The nearby
Temple of Bacchus, built around 150 AD, is pretty well preserved.
Outside the main area is a tiny, exquisite Temple of Venus, a
gorgeous circular building with fluted columns.
Anyway, here are my pictures of it....
Temple
of Jupiter
Roman or Greek writing on a
block at the entrance.
View from the entrance of
the temple complex
Temple of Bacchus - god of
wine and good times.
Ceremonial buildings to the
right of the complex. The place was once used as a fort in Arabic
times
Ceremonial area.
Niches would have once held statues.
All that remains of the
Temple of Jupiter and almost twice the size (originally) of the Temple of
Bacchus next door.
A little snow left on the
mountains in Lebanon. Apparently you can go skiing there in winter.
Temple of Bacchus
Temple of Bacchus. One
of the most impressive temples I have ever seen. And the largest.
One can only imagine what the Temple of Jupiter must have looked like next
to it.
Side view of the temple of
Bacchus
Ceiling details
Lion and Greek key designs
Garden and entrance to the
Temple of Bacchus
Passing
through the Bekka Valley
Another checkpoint.
There were checkpoints everywhere. And lots of men in different
uniforms including everything from a man in civilian dress with an AK47 to
Syrian Army soldiers and tanks to Lebanese Army. I have never seen
so many men with guns in my life.
Lebanese Army Tank
Anti US-Israel posters.
Also saw posters of the Atollayah Khomenei - the ex-leader of Iran.
Next:
Lebanon, 1. Baalbek, 2.
Beirut
|
