When
God created the Sun, the Earth, the
mountains and the seas,
and put them in place, he realized that a little of each remained; so
he
gathered the bits together to make a paradise and so was born Lebanon.
I love Lebanon! Lebanon is a small country only in size, with
a 225
km long coastline along the Eastern Mediterranean and a double ridge of
mountains running parallel to it, reaching an altitude of over 3,000
meters.
The Phoenicians, who flourished several millennia before the Christian
era, founded what today are Lebanon's main cities: Tripoli, Beirut,
Sidon
and Tyre. Then came the Hyksos, followed by the Egyptians, the
Hittites,
the Egyptians again, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the
Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Crusaders, the Mamluks, the Ottoman,
the French and then the Independence in 1943.
Beirut
Modern
Beirut with its tall and mighty buildings
Roman ruins contrasting with
modern
buildings
The Pigeon Rocks, one of the capital's picturesque symbols
World famous AUB (American
University of
Beirut)
Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik
Jounieh
View of Casino
du Liban and Maameltain
The
statue of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa
Bnachii
Home of the Reaiche
family and the birthplace of my father. Here I feel as if I
was in
paradise.
I am speechless regarding Bnachii's beauty and everyone's
friendliness
and hospitality.
The
village of Bnachii
Ma
Rouhana Church
Bnachii
at night, with lights from Tripoli in the background
The village of
Aarjess in the foreground, seen from Bnachii
Tripoli
(Trablous)
Tall
Square and the Clock Tower downtown
View
of medieval Tripoli from St Gilles Citadel
Byblos
(Jbail)
Byblos
can be considered one of the oldest cities in the world.
The Phoenicians claimed that it was founded by the god El,
sometime
around the end of the VI millennium BC.
The
Temple of the Obelisks
Baalbek
All that remains of the Great
Temple of Jupiter are 6 of its
54 columns, the tallest in the world, reaching to 22.9 meters.
The
remarkably well preserved Temple of Bacchus
Aanjar
Established
at the end of the 7th century, this Umayyad city was destroyed
in 744.
After centuries of oblivion Aanjar was discovered in the
1940s and
serious excavation work only began in the 1950s.
The
Great Palace
Tyre (Sour)
The
Gymnasium (left) was the place where the idols of ancient
Rome competed in important sporting events.
The wide and elegant Mosaic Paved Road
(right) flanked by two
majestic rows of marble columns decorated with carvings.
Sidon (Saida)
The
Sea Castle built originally by the Phoenicians is the most
prominent of Sidon's historic monuments
Bcharré
Bcharré
was the birthplace of the poet Khalil Gibran in 1883
Ehden
Statue
of Youssef Bey Karam, national hero with whom our
forefathers
fought to defeat the Turkish invaders
Kadisha
Valley and
The Cedars
The Kadisha Valley
is rich in monasteries dating from the 12th century.
Here, at an altitude of more than 2000 meters, there are 12
cedar trees
that are over one thousand years old.
Beit ed-Dine
The
Palace is a majestic blend of Arab architecture with Italian baroque
influence, 1000 meters above sea level
Incredibly beautiful
Roman mosaics, astounding for their realism and
expressive power
Gebrayel
Home of the Farah family and the
birthplace of my grandmother
on my mother's side.
The
village of Gebrayel
Our
Lady of Gebrayel