Byblos
Byblos overwhelms the senses with its ancient heritage. The oldest continually inhabited town in the world still looks exactly like the ancient Phoenician port it was a few hundred years ago. The most noteworthy sites include the Crusaders’ castle, built during the 12th and 13th centuries; the Egyptian temples, the most ancient of which dates back to the 2nd millennium BC; the Roman amphitheatre with its stunning Mediterranean backdrop; the Phoenician Royal Necropolis; and the scenic 12th century church of St. John the Baptist.
Byblos also holds recently restored medieval souks, where visitors can shop for souvenirs, including Lebanese arts and crafts, postcards, traditional dress, and other local wares or simply stroll along the old cobblestone streets and enjoy the architecture. Moreover, you may visit the Fossil Museum that displays fossilized fish, sharks, eel, flying fish, and other marinelife, some millions of years old. Also, the Byblos Wax Museum displays lifelike wax figures that illustrate Lebanon's history.
Today, Byblos (Jbeil in Arabic), located on the coast 37 km north of Beirut, is a prosperous place with glass-fronted office buildings and crowded streets. But within the old town, medieval Arab and Crusader remains are continuous reminders of the past. Nearby are the extensive excavations that make Byblos one of the most important archaeological sites in the area. Around the ancient port lie a number of superior restaurants, offering local and international specialties as well as fresh seafood dishes.
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