Discover the Baalbek Temple at Lebanon



It’s time to enjoy Lebanon, discover the impressive Baalbek temple and the many myths about its construction. Make the most of your trip!

 

The Baalbek Temple lies in the well-known Beqaa Valley between the Litani and Asi rivers in eastern Lebanon. This construction has always been shrouded by mystery and diverse theories about its creation.

The most grounded theory is that the city of Baalbek was a sanctuary created by the Phoenicians and dedicated to an important god of that time.

 

Temples were built to worship three gods: Jupiter, Bacchus and Venus and were of such incredible size that for centuries some even suggested aliens were responsible for building them.

You’ll get a better idea of the extent of their greatness with a detailed tour of the temples.

 

We begin with the Temple of Jupiter which dates back to 27 B.C. This would have been conceived by the Roman emperor Augustus who set out to build a temple of unprecedented size. How the temple was built remains a mystery to this day. Its enormous size and the weight of each piece (more than 300 tons) is hardly compatible with human labour.

One of the most striking parts of this monument is the Trilithon, a group of three enormous stones weighing about 1000 tons each. Not even the technology we have today could move this type of weight, which feeds the strange theories and stories about this temple.

 

The largest construction stone in the world was also found in this area, the Stone of the Pregnant Woman is estimated to weigh more than 1200 tons. Baalbek has aroused the interest of the scientific world for many years, but for the moment no conclusive explanation has been found.

Close to the Temple of Jupiter, we have the Temple of Bacchus, another impressive example of ancient Roman architecture. It was built in the year 161 AD on top of a 5m high base to give it its monumental proportions.

The unfluted Corinthian columns are impressive and very well preserved, with 8 frontal columns and 15 laterals standing at more than 19m high.

 

About 140m from the Temple of Bacchus you’ll find the Temple of Venus, which was built in 273 AD and has more refined features and is somewhat smaller in size. It was almost completely destroyed after an earthquake and only a few of the columns remain standing today.

We recommend hiring a local guide to help you delve deeper into the characteristics of these immense constructions as they will give provide you with more information about some of the explanations locals have about the temples and their existence, and if they are really intergalactic constructions.

So, what do you think?

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