Lebanon Sightseeing Tours
                                           Powered by Barakat Travel
 

·        Baalbek , Anjar & Ksara Winery

·        Duration: Full Day

·        Tour Highlights : Baalbek Ruins – Kasara Winery – Umayyad Ruins of Anjar

The tour of the Bekaa valley includes a visit to Baalbek, one of the oldest Roman cities in the eastern Mediterranean basin. Lebanon's greatest Roman site, counted among the wonders of the ancient world, contains the largest and most elaborate classical temples ever built. They are wonderfully preserved. Towering high above the Bekaa plain, their monumental proportions proclaimed the power and wealth of Imperial Rome. The original Hellenistic project was never completed; only huge monolithic stones can still be seen. The religious complex of Baalbek is made up of the Jupiter temple and the adjacent Bacchus temple. Proceeding to Anjar, the only Omayyad site in Lebanon dating back to the first half of the 8th century A.D. Historical evidence indicates that the city was built sometime between 705 A.D. and 715 A.D. Anjar, once the summer residence of the Omayyad caliphs, was a metropolis of graceful stone arches and beautifully carved capitals. Only hints remain of the palaces, baths, mosques, dwellings and 600 shops which once stood within its fortified walls. Anjar survived just 50 years and afterwards, sunk into oblivion. It was only excavated in the 1960's. Among the most notable remains are those of the two palaces, a mosque, a residential area and the public baths.Afterwards, you'll continue to Ksara for a wine tasting session. Ksara’s estate was founded by the Jesuit Fathers who acquired the property in 1857, and who perpetuated the tradition of winemaking in the surrounding fertile lands.Ksara’s natural wine cellar was a grotto discovered by the Romans who consolidated part of the vaults and dug several narrow tunnels from the cave into the surrounding chalk. These tunnels were enlarged to their present size during the first World War when the Jesuit Fathers sought to alleviate famine in Lebanon by creating employment. Today, Ksara produces wines with strong personalities, achieving a rare combination of dry fruitiness, delicacy and robustness. These wines leave an imprint on your memory with a concentration of color, taste and sunshine.