the Middle East is the place where the first human civilizations evolved, it is here where the three of the world’s great religions were born and the region has some of the most stunning ancient archaeological marvels of the world. We all know about the great pyramids of Egypt which geographically is part of Africa but politically as well as culturally its more of a middle eastern country. But the pyramids are not the only marvellous piece of architecture in this historical region, although it’s the most famous of them all.
The country of Lebanon is also home to some of the world’s most ancient and gorgeous monuments, the most famous of it all is the Roman temples in the city of Baalbek. The temples that were built in the honour of three pre-Christian era roman gods is considered as an ancient wonder and its grandeur and beauty still inspire some mystics to believe that it has some healing powers. It was once the largest temple in the world and remained the premier worshipping place in the Roman domains for centuries.
Today most of the temple lay in ruins but its majesty and beauty is evident by what is left of this once greatest temple of the world. Your first task will be getting to Baalbek; if you are not already in the country then you can take a cheap flight to Beirut and then hire a car for making the rest of the journey by road. Lebanon as a whole has seen a boom in its tourism industry in the recent years and Baalbek has not remained behind and many new hotels have started their business in the city providing good quality services at an affordable price.
The legend has it that in the Roman era any government official or any important person that used to get sick was moved to the temple and according to chronicles most of them did get better. Well, this may have more to do with the excellent weather and atmosphere of the Bekaa Valley than the healing tendencies of the temple as even today the region acts as an atmospheric resort town. Today the town of Baalbek is a couple of miles away from the original historical town and to visit the ruins you will have to take a short drive.
As the ruins are the major attractions of the town so you will find quite a few tour operators in the city offering guided tours of them. The main complex consists of a hexagonal court, huge propylaea and the great court that acted as the sacrificial pit to honour Jupiter the god of the ancient Romans. The grandeur of the complex is astounding and the engineering feat achieved by the Roman engineers more than two thousand years ago is unbelievable. There is a free museum on the southern tip of the complex that has quite a few artefacts that were unearthed by the archaeologist and will provide you with quite a lot of information about the city.
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