Small-Group Tour with Lunch to Baalbek, Anjar and Ksara

Baalbek, is home to the Baalbek temple complex which includes two of the largest and grandest Roman temple ruins: the Temple of Bacchus and the Temple of Jupiter. It was inscribed in 1984 as an UNESCO World Heritage site. This Phoenician city, where a triad of deities was worshipped, was known as Heliopolis during the Hellenistic period. It retained its religious function during Roman times, when the sanctuary of the Heliopolitan Jupiter attracted thousands of pilgrims. Baalbek, with its colossal structures, is one of the finest examples of Imperial Roman architecture at its apogee.

Temples of Baalbek

The complex of temples at Baalbek is located at the foot of the south-west slope of Anti-Lebanon, bordering the fertile plain of the Bekaa at an altitude of 1150 m. The city of Baalbek reached its apogee during Roman times. Its colossal constructions built over a period of more than two centuries, make it one of the most famous sanctuaries of the Roman world and a model of Imperial Roman architecture. Pilgrims thronged to the sanctuary to venerate the three deities, known under the name of the Romanized Triad of Heliopolis, an essentially Phoenician cult (Jupiter, Venus and Bacchus).

The Stone of the Pregnant Woman is a worked Roman monolith in Baalbek, Lebanon. Together with another ancient stone block nearby, it is among the largest monoliths ever quarried. The two building blocks were presumably intended for the nearby Roman temple complex, and are characterized by a monolithic gigantism that was unparalleled in antiquity.

Umayyad Ruins of Aanjar

The Umayyad Ruins of Aanjar bears outstanding witness to the Umayyad civilization and a good example of an inland commercial centre, at the crossroads of two important routes: one leading from Beirut to Damascus and the other crossing the Bekaa and leading from Homs to Tiberiade. The site of this ancient city was only discovered by archaeologists at the end of the 1940s. The ruins of Anjar include the walls of the Umayyad palace, harems, a mosque, the great palace of the Caliph, thermal baths, and many pillars which include some elements of the Roman architectural style.

Chateau Ksara

Château Ksara is a wine company in The Beqaa Valley Lebanon. Founded in 1857 by Jesuit priests. Château Ksara developed the first dry wine in Lebanon. Château Ksara produces approximately 3 million bottles annually. Its wines are exported to over 40 countries.