|
|
|
|
Anjar
- AN UMAYYAD SITE OF LEBANON
Anjar, 58 kilometers
from Beirut, is completely different from any other archaeological
experience you'll have in Lebanon. At other historical sites
in the country, different epochs and civilizations are superimposed
one on top of the other. Anjar
is exclusively one period, the Umayyad.
Lebanon's other sites were founded millennia ago, but Anjar
is a relative newcomer, going back to the early 8th century
A.D.
 |
Unlike
Tyre and Byblos, which claim continuous habitation since
the day they were founded, Anjar
flourished for only a few decades.
Oher than a small Umayyad mosque in Baalbeck, we have
few other remnants from this important period of Arab
history.
|
|
| Anjar
also stands unique as the only historic example of an inland
commercial center. The city benefited from its strategic position
on intersecting trade routes leading to Damascus, Homs, Baalbeck
and to the South. |
 |
This almost perfect quadrilateral
of ruins lies in the midst of some of the richest agricultural
land in Lebanon. It is only a short distance from gushing
springs and one of the important sources of the Litani
River. Today's name, Anjar,
comes from the Arabic Ain Gerrha, ''the source of Gerrha'',
the name of an ancient city founded in this area by the
Arab Ituraens during Hellenistic times. |
|
Anjar
has a special beauty. The city's slender columns and fragile
arches stand in contrast to the massive bulk of the nearby Anti-Lebanon
mountains, an eerie background for Anjar's
extensive ruins and the memories of its short, but energetic
moment in history...
For more info please visit: Ministry
of Tourism |
|
|
Resorts
Restaurants
Touristic sites
Useful Numbers 
