Discover Lebanon's History Through These 10 Locations

Journey through ancient archaeological ruins and explore age-old natural wonders

By Google Arts & Culture

An aerial view of the ruins at the Temple of Echmoun by CyArkCyArk

Lebanon can be found in Western Asia and is home to many amazing cities, ruins, and monuments. Discover more about the country´s history through these archaeological locations...

The Phoenician Wall

The Wall originally existed as a natural structure made up of petrified sand dunes before it was fortified by the Phoenicians. Although parts of it have crumbled, for the most part, the wall still stands at 225 meter long and varies between 1 and 1.5 meters thick.

Temple of Jupiter (Roman Heliopolis)

The Temple of Jupiter was a colossal temple dedicated to the Roman god Zeus and it remains one of the biggest surviving Roman temples to date. The temple itself is perched on top of 3,000 stone blocks, each weighing around a ton.

Byblos

Byblos is a historic coastal city located on a sandstone cliff 42km north of Lebanon. It is one of the oldest cities in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Byblos is also home to a beautiful harbor, Byzantine churches, a Roman road, and more...

Jeita Grotto

In 1836, an American missionary, Reverend William Thomson, made a startling discovery: the Jeita Grotto. Thomson fired his gun when he reached 50 meters into the cave and the echoes made it clear to him that he’d found an impressively large cavern 9km underground.

Rock of Raouché

The story goes that the Greek hero Perseus beheaded a sea monster called Gordon Medusa to save his future wife Andromeda. He then used the head of Medusa to turn the monster into stone, which became the rock of Raouché.

Cedars of God

Lebanon was once home to a vast forest of cedar trees, but over the centuries, most of the wood has been gradually stripped away. It’s even said that Gilgamesh, the legendary Sumerian King, used cedar wood to build his historic city.

Ruins of Tyre

The city of Tyre (its name meaning "rock" for the rocky formation on which it was originally built) was once an ancient Phoenician port city and is now the fourth largest city in Lebanon. It was once home to a Hippodrome, a horseshoe-shaped stadium for racing chariots or horses.

Sidon Sea Castle

The castle was built by the crusaders during the 13th century on a small island off the coast of Sidon, on the former site of a Phoenician temple. After the crusaders left, the fortification was largely destroyed by Mamluk soldiers to prevent them returning.

Roman Bath Vestiges

In the middle of downtown Beirut (known as "Berytus" in Roman times) you can see the well-preserved remains of some Roman baths, which were unexpectedly discovered at the end of the 1960s.

Moussa Castle

This is a modern castle with an inspiring story. Its construction was the childhood dream and life's work of Moussa Maamari, who spent 21,900 days hand-building his own personal castle because of his childhood crush.

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