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Previous: Beirut
Byblos is only 40 km north of Beirut but I would not have visited it had not Jimena Mogab offered to drive me there with her darling daughter Maha one afternoon. We stopped on the way to take this panoramic view of Jounieh from the fashionable Adma heights. Jounieh was just a small town halfway to Byblos from the capital before the civil war but it grew very rapidly when wealthy Christians started to build here to get away from the flying shrapnel in Beirut.
Excavations have shown that Byblos has been continuously inhabited since 5000 BC. That makes it one of the oldest towns in the world. It became an important trading port in the third millennium BC and remained the major Phoenician centre until Tyre took over that role around 1000 BC.
Now, Byblos is mostly a pleasant place whose beach and fine restaurants are enjoyed by people from Beirut in summer. March is too cold for the bikini set as you can see.
Byblos also caters to tourists for whom this modern souk was designed. Unfortunately for these merchants, tourism was down because of the impending American war against Iraq and business was slow.
Byblos has all the infrastructure, like this fine Hôtel Byblos sur Mer to make it a really hopping place when conditions are right.
The fisherman's port is surrounded by fine restaurants.
Having a seafood dinner in one of these fancy restaurants is a fashionable thing to do in summer.
Can you imagine an exquisitely prepared langouste with chilled muscadet wine and this great view overlooking the port!
The Crusaders fortified all their coastal towns between the 11th and 13th centuries. Here is the entrance to the walled city.
Here is a view of the well restored medieval town from the fort's entrance
And a picture from inside.
And finally, a view of the sea from the fort ramparts.
I was delighted by my visit. The next day, Fu'ad decided to show me his native village in the Chouf mountains.
