Baalbek Archaeological complex

Description

Baalbeck, with its colossal structures, is one of the finest examples of Imperial Roman architecture at its apogee.

Baalbeck, also spelled Baalbek, Arabic Baʿlabakk, Greek Heliopolis, also called City of the Sun, large archaeological complex encompassing the ruins of an ancient Roman town in eastern Lebanon. It is located in the broad Al-Biqāʿ (Bekaa Valley) region, at an elevation of roughly 3,700 feet (1,130 metres) about 50 miles (80 km) east-northeast of Beirut. The complex was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984.

One of the principal structures on the site is the Temple of Jupiter (completed 2nd century ce), only portions of which remain. It was a massive building, entered by a propylaea, or entranceway, leading to a hexagonal forecourt and then to a rectangular main court 343 feet (104.5 metres) long and 338 feet (103 metres) wide. The court was surrounded by elaborately decorated exedrae (semicircular benches) and opened onto a portico whose 84 granite columns were brought from Aswān in Upper Egypt.

Features