📷 Alexander Popovkin · Pexels

Where in the world

Lebanon

Baalbek

Roman · Lebanon

Field notes

civilizations: RomanPhoenician-Punic
types: City
built: 15 BCE — 250 CE
occupied: 1,200 BCE — 400 CE
country: Lebanon

The site

Baalbek is an ancient city in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley with roots stretching back thousands of years, renamed Heliopolis, or "Sun City," after Alexander the Great's conquest in 334 BCE. The site flourished under Roman rule, when its monumental temples and sanctuaries were raised, drawing on Phoenician foundations. Later sacked by the Mongols and battered by earthquakes, Baalbek endures today as a celebrated ruin and tourist destination.

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