Baalbek

Baalbek, set in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, contains the most spectacular Roman temple complex in the Middle East and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. Inhabited since the 8th millennium BCE, the city was known in Roman times as Colonia Heliopolis, a major religious hub of the eastern Mediterranean. The Temple of Jupiter was once among the largest sacred enclosures in the entire Roman Empire; its six surviving columns, each standing over 20 meters tall, remain among the tallest intact ancient columns on earth. Beneath the temples lies the enigmatic Trilithon platform, built from stone blocks weighing up to 800 tonnes — how they were transported and placed remains one of archaeology's open engineering questions. Each summer since the 1950s, the ruins serve as the backdrop for the internationally acclaimed Baalbek International Festival, drawing classical and world music performers to perform among the standing columns.