| Sanctuary of Baalbek, composed of Jupiter Temple (right) and Bacchus Temple (left). Baalbek, situated in the Bekaa Valley, is considered to be founded as the sacred place for the worship of Baal, the primary god of the Phoenicians. During the Hellenistic and Roman eras, it had another name ‘Heliopolis’ which means city of the sun god. After Baalbek became a colonial city of Rome in the first century BCE, huge temples continued to be constructed during the Roman period. Jupiter Temple is of the size of 48 meters in frontage and 87 meters in depth. Surviving six columns inspire our imagination about its extraordinary size of the original temple. |
