Beka’a Valley Travels

Today was a tourist day outside of Beirut; we travelled up and over the Mount Lebanon range to the Beka’a Valley along a winding road, leaving the urban sprawl behind. The scenery changed to rock strewn hills and wadis, with few structures. Many of the houses we saw looked half complete, prompting us to wonder whether we were seeing the impact of war, the shortage of funds, or some other phenomenon. The valley itself was wonderfully green, with the Anti-Lebanon Range rising at the other side of the valley, and beyond, Damascus.

Ksara: a winery founded in 1857 by Jesuit priests; sold to current owners in 1972. It is located on the site of a medieval fortress, with about 2km of underground tunnels dating from Roman times. The tunnels are used for wine storage given their cool, stable temperatures. The Beqa’a Valley is known for its fertility, agriculture, and wine cultivation, notwithstanding the predominance of Shi’ite communities and influence from Iran.

Ba’albek: The “City of the Sun”, site of one of the largest Roman temple complexes in the Middle East. It was sited in a location of abundant spring water, and on strategically based on both east west and north south trade routes. There had been Phoenician and Greek settlements at Ba’albek, but it was the Romans who began construction of the temple complex in 60 BCE, and construction continued at the complex for about 300 years. The temples were built in honor of Jupiter (the largest structure), Bacchus, and Venus. The modern city of Ba’albek is a Shi’ite town; an Iranian built mosque in the Isfahan style is nearby, and the yellow flags of Hezbollah are prominent along with posters of the Ayatollah and Hassan Nasrallah, the party’s leader.

Zahle: a Greek Catholic mountain resort, more like Beirut than Ba’albek in its upscale architecture. Pleasant lunch stop with a delightful mezza.

Aanjar: site of the only Umayyad remains in Lebanon. The location was quiet, the air crisp and clear. The Umayyad caliph Walid I (705-715 ad). He founded this complex as a summer retreat from his capital in Damascus. Some 30 to 50 years later, the complex was destroyed by one of Walid’s competing successors. The current town of Aanjar is mostly Armenian, settled between 1915 and the late 1930s by Armenians fleeing the Turks. The site was isolated and quiet, a lovely respite from traffic and hazy smog of other locations.