Baalbeck:
Heliopolis: the roman temples of Baal beck, located in the Bekaa
valley 85 kilometers away from Beirut. It makes up the largest
and best preserved corpus of roman architecture left around. The
acropolis occupies the top of an artificial hill built up of
different layers of habitation. Its temples, dedicated to
Jupiter, Bacchus and Venus, were constructed between the first
and the third centuries A.D. In the “Jupiter temple” six of the
54 giant columns that originally surrounded the sanctuary
survived till today. The temple has ani mpressive podium and a
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courtyard where sacrifices were carried out. The sanctuary is
reached through a propylaea (monumental entrance) and hexagonal
forecourt.
The town of Baalbeck has major remains from Islamic times including
the grand Mosque, built by the Ommayadds with material borrowed from
ancient monuments, and another mosque built in Mamluke times near
the spring of Ras el –Ain
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