Baalbeck

 

Baalbeck, Lebanon’s greatest Roman treasure, can be counted among the wonders of the ancient world. The best preserved, largest and most noble Roman temples constructed in Lebanon are located in Baalbeck . The gods worshipped there, at the time, were the Triad of Jupiter, Venus and Mercury. The temples were built on an ancient tell that goes back at least to the end of the third millennium B.C.

 

An enclosed court was built on the ancient tell. An alter was set in the center of this court, as to the tradition of the biblical Semitic high places.  Over the ancient court, the Romans placed the present Great Court of the Temple of Jupiter. During the Hellenistic period (333-46 B.C. ) the Greeks identified the god of Baalbeck with the Sun God and the city was called Heliopolis or City of the Sun.

 

The Great Court Complex of the Temple of Jupiter altars and basins, was built in the 2nd century A.D. The Propylaea and the Hexagonal Court of the Jupiter Temple were added in the 3rd century completed in the mid-3rd century, along with the small circular structure known as Temple of Venus.

 

The temple complex of Baalbeck is made up of the Jupiter Temple with the Bacchus Temple adjacent to it. A short distance away is the Temple of Venus. Only part of a staircase stand as remains of a fourth temple dedicated to Mercury, on Sheikh Abdallah hill.


The Baalbeck International Festival is a cultural event in Lebanon. Started in 1955, people from around the world have gone to the city of Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon to attend the annual festival. Cultural events such as classical music, opera, jazz, modern world music, Lebanese Nights, rock and pop music as well as ballet and theater have attracted over 40,000 yearly spectators watching in the unique historic setting of Baalbek.