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The great
temple at Baalbeck
or Heliopolis has stood since the beginning of our era when
it was one of the wonders of the world. It and the second temple,
with its cellar almost intact, make up one of the most beautiful
and famous of ancient monuments. Baalbeck
is indeed a place where the visitor can still recapture the
fascination and atmosphere of the past.
There are legends to explain its exceptional size, its gigantic
proportions and huge blocks, particularly the three which each
measure between 19-20 m. by 4.50 m. by 3.60 m.
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An
even greater block still lies in the quarry. An archaeologist
has declared that this block alone would make a visit
to Baalbeck
worthwhile.
For centuries popular fancy connected the place with biblical
figures, mankind before the flood, with giants and djinns,
and even recently an apparently serious scientist attributed
the platform on which the great temple stands to beings
who had landed from another planet in remote times. |
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| Baalbeck
suffered with the passage of time. Its history disappeared in
legend and its temples became unrecognizable through Byzantine
and mediaeval additions, ravages of war, earthquakes and vandalism.
But now, thanks to the work of excavation, consolidation and
restoration carried out since the beginning of the century,
we can see the buildings of Baalbeck
almost as they were in their prime with the later additions
removed. |
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The
way into the sanctuary is once more through the propylaea
and hexagonal forecourt. The visitor now reaches the vast
court of sacrifice, once encumbered by a Byzantine basilica,
and now cleared to show its original state with the monumental
altar and second altar flanked by ornamental pools for
ritual washing.
For more info please visit:
Ministry
of Tourism |
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