Anjar
About Anjar: An entire palace-city from the Umayyad dynasty today lies in ruins. The name “Anjar” is a modification of the Arabic “Ain Gerrha,” the name of an ancient city founded in this area in Hellenistic times.
In contrast with other historic cities in Lebanon that are still inhabited, such as Tyre, Saida, Beirut and Byblos, Anjar’s glory did not last long because of the Umayyad’s short-lived 100-year rule in the 8th century. This iconic site once housed three grand palaces, Roman-inspired public baths, a residential area, a mosque and a commercial center. Its grand architectural scheme is made to be an almost perfect quadrilateral, with perpendicular streets and alleys that intersect at the city center. This tidy division into four quarters is based on earlier Roman city planning. Anjar has been classified as a World Heritage Site by UNISCO. |
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