Downtown Beirut and Byblos

I’ve made two interesting trips in the past two weeks, and while each are deserving of their own entry, I’ll try to condense the highlights of both into a single post.

Last weekend my friends and I decided to trek into Beirut’s downtown, which I had previously only seen the highlights of and had only seen at night. Fortunately, AUB is walking distance to downtown Beirut, which hosts a mixture of upscale shopping, government buildings, and remnants of Lebanon’s 15-year Civil War.

Probably the most pleasant way to walk towards Beirut’s downtown is along the city’s Corniche, or seaside walkway. This walkway stretches around the northwest part of Beirut, and is very popular with families taking walks, merchants selling bread and tea, and groups of younger people just hanging out and trying to look cool. On clear days, you can see Lebanon’s northern coast and central mountain range.

Beirut's Corniche

Unfortunately, the Corniche doesn’t extend all of the way into downtown Beirut, as Beirut’s large harbor gets in the way. It is around this spot that I noticed a memorial, a severely damaged building, and realized that this was where Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in a massive car bombing in 2005. The building next to his assassination site is still heavily damaged from the blast, and is currently marked with a large “stop Solidere” sign, referring to a powerful Lebanese construction company. Solidere was founded by Rafik Hariri and was responsible for much of the reconstruction following the Lebanese Civil War.

Hariri's assassination site, still damaged

A statue of Rafik Hariri by the assassination site

It is also around this point that you have a clear view of Beirut’s old Holiday Inn, which was the site of several battles at the initial stage of the Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1977. Due to its height, it became a major defensive spot for Christian snipers until it was overtaken by Arab Nationalist militiamen in 1977. The hotel hasn’t been touched since this time, and has been left as a highly-visible monument to the War.

The Holiday Inn

Moving past these bleaker buildings, you start to see several newer and polished structures that constitute the heart of downtown Beirut. This area lacks the chaos, disorganization, and squalor of other Middle Eastern downtowns like Amman or Cairo, and is much more like a European city center. It also features a massive upscale shopping area, which uses the traditional Arab name of “souks,” meaning markets. However, these souks were filled with designer clothing and expensive restaurants rather than spices, soaps, and produce.

You also can get a view of some of Lebanon’s government buildings in this area, such as the Grand Serail. This building is one of the few old Ottoman structures in Beirut still in use, and hosts the offices of the Prime Minister. It’s also a highly secure area, so you can’t get too close at all.

The Grand Serail

We then ventured into what seems to be the heart of downtown, Place de l’Etoile. I visited this area the week before, but think its characteristic clock tower and surrounding view look at lot better by day. This square also hosts Lebanon’s parliament building.

Place de l'Etoile with its clock tower

Lebanon's Parliament Building

I also thought the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque looked nicer by day.

Mohammad al-Amin Mosque

Just east of Place de l’Toile is Place des Martyrs, better known as Martyr’s Square in English. The square commemorates the Lebanese nationalist rebels who were executed following an uprising against Ottoman rule in the 19^th Century. The statue at this center of the Square commemorating this event has managed to stand since 1960, yet shows tell-tale signs of damage from the Civil War. While the area around the Square is still largely in development, it looks a lot better now than it did during the War.

Martyr's Square Today

Martyr's Square at the height of the Lebanese Civil War in 1982

We then walked along the Corniche back to AUB, and I managed to get a good picture of the AUB area by sunset. People say that it looks a little like Miami Beach.

BYBLOS

On Saturday, my friends and I decided to get out of Beirut and set out to one of the major tourist sites north of Beirut, Byblos. This city, located just 40 kilometers north of Beirut, took us just under an hour to get to by a very slow moving bus that frequently picked up and dropped off passengers, but fortunately only cost 2500 Lebanese Lira per person (about $1.60).

Byblos is famous for being one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns on Earth, originally founded by the Phoenician civilization around 5000 B.C. Apparently the Greek prefix “bib” for objects relating to books actually comes from this town, as it was a major exporter of Papyrus in the ancient era. In Arabic it’s known as “Jbeil” today, which uses its Canaanite and Phoenician name.

While the newer parts of Byblos look more or less like Beirut or any other city, the older parts have a lot of Mediterranean charm. The older part is full of shops selling souvenirs, upscale restaurants, museums, and churches. I loved the architecture, which was somewhat similar to what I saw in Italy several years ago.

Part of Old Town Byblos

The main tourist attraction in Byblos is it’s 12^th Century Crusader Castle, which sits amid a field of older Roman and Phoenician ruins. Apparently, some of the Roman ruins were actually used to build the Crusader Castle, and you can still see some columns lodged into the foundation of the Castle for support.

Byblos's Crusader Castle

While I liked the historical aspect of the town, I also really liked the views it offered of Lebanon’s coast. Byblos is right on the Mediterranean, and you could see Lebanon’s central mountains very well from most of the town.

We wandered around the old town a little more after watching the sunset, but didn’t spend too much time there at night. I’m not too sure there’s any budget hotels in the town, and since Beirut is less than an hour away, it made more sense to just return home for the night.

Sunset from Byblos's Harbor