Located centrally on the Lebanese coast, 95km both from the borders to Syria and Israel, Beirut is the capital of Lebanon and its largest city.
Settled for about 5000 years, it has been ruled by the Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders and Ottomans. Beirut developed a lot towards the end of the 19th century and under the French after World War I. The civil war between 1975 and 1990 destroyed a lot of the historical areas of Beirut. These were subsequently reconstructed but with modern buildings and as a consequence Beirut lacks a large historical core.
The historical parts of Beirut which are left today are concentrated around the Solidere area, where a number of mosques, churches and the Roman ruins are located. The Hamra and Verdun areas to the west and southwest are the stylish and elegant parts of Beirut with neoclassical buildings and upper end shops and boutiques.
The traffic in Beirut is quite heavy most of the time and especially along the coastal road to Jounieh there are frequent traffic jams. Along the coast there is the Beirut Corniche, a coastal road with a promenade with nice views of the coast and the Mediterranean sea.
How to get to Beirut
Beirut has an international airport with direct connections to most cities and capitals in the Middle East and several European cities. The airport is about 10km south of the centre of Beirut (Hamra). To get to the centre of Beirut you need to take a taxi.
Accommodation
There are many hotels in Beirut, but they are relatively expensive. The pricing level is higher than in other cities of the Middle East. Due to the heavy traffic it makes sense to stay in the centre of Beirut (Hamra) if the plan is to visit the city.
01 St Francis catholic church 02 St Francis church 03 Catholic mass in St Francis church 04 Catholic mass in St Francis church 05 St Francis church
06 Stained windows in St Francis church 07 St Francis church 08 St George Greek Orthodox cathedral 09 St George Greek Orthodox cathedral 10 St George Greek Orthodox cathedral 11 St George Maronite cathedral clock tower
12 St George Maronite cathedral 13 St George Maronite cathedral altar 14 St George Maronite cathedral 15 St George Maronite cathedral door 16 St George Maronite cathedral clock tower at night
17 St Gregory Armenian catholic cathedral 18 St Gregory Armenian catholic cathedral 01 St George Greek Orthodox cathedral 02 Clock tower in Nejmeh square 03 St George Greek Orthodox cathedral
04 Nejmeh square 05 St George Greek Orthodox cathedral 06 Roman forum and Aal Amin mosque
07 Roman forum ruins 08 Roman forum ruins 09 St George Maronite cathedral 10 St George Maronite cathedral
11 St George Maronite cathedral and Al Amin mosque 12 St George Maronite cathedral crucifix 13 St George Maronite cathedral_1 14 Nejmeh square
15 St George Maronite cathedral and Al Amin mosque at night 16 American University of Beirut 17 American University of Beirut 18 American University of Beirut
01 Barbar restaurant 02 Cooks in Barbar restaurant 03 Chicken shawarma 04 Hamra street at night 05 Hamra street at night
06 Building facade 07 Pedestrian area with cafe 08 Electronics shop 09 Beirut city hall 10 Residential building 11 Residential building
12 Hope and peace 13 Damaged building 14 I love Beirut 15 Solidere neighbourhood
16 Adidas shop 17 Hamra street at night 18 Cooks in BBQ house restaurant 19 Chocolate strawberry cake 20 Cheesecake
21 Cookies 22 Southern Beirut 23 Airport departures display panel 01 Emir Munzer mosque
02 Al Omari mosque 03 Al Amin mosque 04 Al Amin mosque 05 Al Amin mosque at night 06 Al Amin mosque
07 Al Amin mosque 08 Prayer hall in Al Amin mosque 09 Al Amin mosque prayer hall 10 Al Amin mosque 11 Al Amin mosque
12 Al Amin mosque dome 13 Al Amin mosque dome 14 Al Amin mosque 15 Al Amin mosque 16 Al Amin mosque
17 Al Amin mosque dome 18 Al Omari mosque 19 Al Omari mosque 20 Al Omari mosque 21 Al Omari mosque
22 Al Omari mosque 23 Al Omari mosque 24 Al Omari mosque 25 Al Omari mosque
01 National museum of Beirut 02 National museum of Beirut 03 Main hall 04 Right wing
05 Sarcophagus with Achilles legend 06 Sarcophagus with Achilles legend 07 Detail of Achilles legend sarcophagus 08 Seven wise men mosaic 09 Funerary stele
10 Detail of funerary stele 11 Head of emperor Septimius Severus 12 Statue of child 13 Abduction of Europe mosaic 14 Altar with an eagle
15 Jupiter and Ganymede mosaic 16 Marble statue of Hygeia 17 Limestone funerary stele 18 Limestone funerary stele 19 Limestone statue of Colossus 20 Limestone statue of Colossus
21 Sphinx 22 Capital with bull protomes 23 Bas-relief of woman 24 Bull head 25 Bowl
26 Makeup box 27 Cosmetic box 28 Kantharos 29 Alabaster amphora 30 Gorget of king Ip Shemou Abi
31 Pectoral of of king Ip Shemou Abi 32 Gold bracelet 33 Pectoral depicting goddess Hathor 34 Statuette of a god 35 Bronze male figurines
36 Gold dagger and sheath 37 Bronze axe with goddess Anat 38 Fenestrated axe 39 Krater vase 40 Fertility goddess
41 Gold necklace 42 Cythara player 43 Gold funerary ornament 44 Limestone face 45 Limestone face
46 Gold masks 47 Gold masks 48 Gold bracelet with ram heads 49 Necklace with buckles and coins 50 Sarcophagus
51 Decorated cotton dress 52 Manuscript in Estrangelo and Karshuni characters 53 Mummies of Assi el-Hadath cave 54 Row of sarcophagi 55 Row of sarcophagi
56 Goddess Psyche 57 Fragment with Phoenician inscription 58 Fragment with Phoenician inscription 59 Stele with Phoenician inscription
60 Phoenician inscription
61 Collar axes 01 Beirut Souks Cinemacity 02 Cinemacity Zaatar fast food 03 Cinemacity
04 Cinemacity 05 Beirut Souks 06 Beirut Souks 07 Beirut City Centre mall 08 City Centre mall interior
09 City Centre christmas tree 10 Beirut City Centre mall 11 Beirut City Centre food court 12 ABC mall 13 ABC mall
14 ABC mall 15 ABC mall 16 Illuminated trees in ABC mall 17 ABC mall car parking
18 Beirut mall 19 Beirut mall 20 Beirut mall 01 Skyscrapers 02 Pigeon rocks
03 Raouche rocks 04 Pigeon rocks 05 Waterfront 06 Promenade 07 Mediterranean sea
08 Mediterranean sea 09 Mediterranean sea 10 Waterfront sunset 11 Pink bench 12 Promenade at sunset
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