SAIDA

Saida/Sidon

Sidon, on the coast 48 km south of Beirut, is one of the famous names in ancient history. But out of all of Lebanon's cities, this is the most mysterious, for its past has been tragically scattered and plundered. In the 19th Century, treasure hunters and amateur archaeologists made off with many of its most beautiful and important objects, some of which can now be seen in foreign Museums.

In this Century too, ancient objects from Sidon (Saidoon is the Phoenician name, Saida in Arabic), have turned up on the worlds antiquities markets. Other traces of history lie beneath the concrete of modern construction, perhaps buried for ever. The challenge for today's visitor to Sidon then, is to recapture a sense of the city's ancient glory from the intriguing elements that still survive.

The largest city in the south Lebanon, Sidon is a busy commercial center with a pleasant conservative atmosphere of a small town. Since Persian times this was known as the city gardens and even today it is surrounded by citrus and banana plantations.