BAALABAK

	Photographs from Baalbak - the Roman ruins and the Ummayad mosque 1997-1999, Børre Ludvigsen
	Panoramas from Baalbak 1997-1999, Børre Ludvigsen
	Archaeology in Lebanon in the Twentieth Century, by William A. Ward
	Baalbak a David Roberts print
	Baalbeck International Festival
	A Press Conference to Defend The Archeological Sites of the City of Baalbak From al-Nahar 23rd. June 1995 page 6.

Baalabak/Baalbak/Baalbeck, Lebanon's greatest Roman treasure, can be counted among the wonders of the ancient world. These are not only the largest and most noble Roman temples ever built, but they are also among the best preserved.Towering high above the Beqaa plain, their monumental proportions proclaimed the power and wealth of Imperial Rome.

The gods worshipped here, the Triad of Jupiter, Venus and Mercury, were grafted onto the indigenous deities of fertility. Local influences are also seen in the planning and layout of the temples, which vary from the classic Roman design. Over the centuries Baalbeck's monuments suffered from theft, war and earthquakes, as well as from numerous medieval additions, Fortunately, the modern visitor can see the site in something close to its original form thanks to work in the past hundred years by German, French and Lebanese archaeologists.

Baalbeck is located on two main historic trade routes, one between the Mediterranean coast and Syrian interior and the other between northern Syria and norhtern Palestine. Today the city, 85 kilometers from Beirut, is an important administrative and economic center in the northern Beqaa valley.

(Courtesy of the Ministry of Tourism.)

While the Baalabak is known primarily in the west as the site of the famous Roman ruins, in the Middle East the ruins are called "The Castle". The ruins were suitably fortified during the moslem conquests and Baalbak became the great fortified town at the head of the Beqaa Valley where it borders on to the valley of the Orontes river in Syria. Previous to its more recent western romantic appeal, especially nurtured by the 19th century British on the extended 'Grand Tour' it was fought over frequently and decisively during the Crusades.

In addition to the Castle or ruins, the recently restored Ummayad Mosque of Baalbak was also the site of a school. One of its more illustrious pupils was Salaheddine el 'Ayoubi - the still venerated Saladin - who very nearly ejected the Crusaders from the Levant during in the late 12th century. The Mosque, restored by the Harriri Foundation in 1996-99, was built on the same plan as the great mosques of Damascus and Aleppo.

(BL 19990714)