Baalbek is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about 67 km (42 mi) northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In 1998, the city had a population of 82,608. Most of the population consists of Shia Muslims, followed by Sunni Muslims and Christians; in 2017, there was also a large presence of Syrian refugees.
The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon and its most important farming region. Industry, especially the country's agricultural industry, also flourishes in Beqaa. The region broadly corresponds to the Coele-Syria of classical antiquity.
Palmyra is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate. It is located in an oasis in the middle of the Syrian Desert 215 kilometres (134 mi) northeast of Damascus and 180 kilometres southwest of the Euphrates River. The ruins of ancient Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are situated about 500 metres southwest of the modern city centre. Relatively isolated, the nearest localities include Arak to the east, Al-Sukhnah further to the northeast, Tiyas to the west and al-Qaryatayn to the southwest.
The Temple of Bacchus is part of the Baalbek archaeological site, in Beqaa Valley region of Lebanon. The temple complex is considered an outstanding archaeological and artistic site of Imperial Roman Architecture and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. This monument to Bacchus is one of the best preserved and grandest Roman temple ruins; its age is unknown, but its fine ornamentation can be dated to the second century CE.
Beit Mery is a Lebanese town overlooking the capital Beirut. The town has been a summer mountain resort since the times of the Phoenicians and later the Romans.
The Baalbeck International Festival is a cultural event in Lebanon. Since 1955, people from around the world have gone to the city of Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon to attend the annual festival. Classical music, dance, theater, opera, and jazz as well as modern world music are performed each July and August in the ancient Roman Acropolis. The presidents of the festival have been as follows: Aimée Kettaneh from 1956 to 1968, Salwa es-Said from 1969 to 1972, May Arida from 1973 to 2010 and Nayla de Freige from 2011 to present.
Deir El Ahmar is a Lebanese town, located 100km from Beirut and 22km northwest of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.
Bechouat is a Lebanese village in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon. The village is famous for the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Bechouat, a Marian shrine and the site of Christian pilgrimage. Divine miracles have been reported and attributed to Our Lady of Bechouat.
The tourism industry in Lebanon has been important to the local economy historically and comprises a major source of revenue for the country.
Iaat is a town and municipality located approximately 5 kilometers northwest of Baalbek, in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon. The town is famed for its Corinthian column, the Iaat column. This is a single column of unknown date, approximately halfway between Baalbek and Qasr el Banat, with a cartouche on the 6th drum but no inscription.
Phoenicia under Roman rule describes the Phoenician city states ruled by Rome from 64 BCE to the Muslim conquests of the 7th century. The area around Berytus was the only Latin speaking and Romanized part of Aramaic-speaking Phoenicia.
Duris is a village located approximately 3 km (2 mi). southwest of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. It is the site of a 13th-century Muslim shrine and a necropolis from the late Roman Imperial period that is currently undergoing archaeological investigation.
Zahlé is a city in eastern Lebanon, and the capital and largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 150,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut and Tripoli and the fourth-largest taking the whole urban area.
Sayyid Hussein el-Husseini was a Lebanese statesman who served as speaker of the Lebanese parliament, and whose efforts in brokering and fathering the Taif Agreement led to the end of the Lebanese Civil War in 1990.
Labweh, Laboué, Labwe or Al-Labweh is a village at an elevation of 950 metres (3,120 ft) on a foothill of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains in Baalbek District, Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon.
Nahlé, is a village situated 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) northeast of Baalbek in Baalbek District, Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon. It has the ruins of a Roman temple.
Temnin el-Foka is a village located approximately 28 kilometers southwest of Baalbek in the Baalbek District, in the Beqaa valley of Lebanon, at an altitude of 1100 meters above sea level. The village is famous for its Roman nymphaeum which is close to the spring of Ain el-Jobb.
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Baalbek is a diocese of the Catholic Church immediately subject to the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Melkites. It is currently governed by Archbishop Elias Rahal.
The Temple of Jupiter is a colossal Roman temple in Baalbek, Lebanon. It is the largest of the Roman world after the Temple of Venus and Roma in Rome. It is unknown who commissioned or designed the temple, nor exactly when it was constructed. It is most likely construction begun in the first century BC. It is situated at the western end of the Great Court of Roman Heliopolis, on a broad platform of stone raised another 7 m (23 ft) above the huge stones of the foundation, three of which are among the heaviest blocks ever used in a construction. Cultic activity had long taken place at the site; the temple presumably replaced an earlier one, possibly using the same foundation.
The 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon caused damage to or destroyed various cultural heritage sites, up to the scale of the destruction of entire historic villages.
Look at the temples of Baalbek
Dining room
Lounge
Ancient furniture
The room that once hosted Charles de Gaulle
Painting of Jean Cocteau
