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Article: Travel: Towering temples of Baalbek
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- January 29, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1995 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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FOR THE first time in almost a generation it is possible again
to visit the Roman temples of Baalbek, the most gargantuan
monuments of antiquity outside Egypt. Since the winding down of
Lebanon's 15-year civil war in 1990, the country has been made
secure, reconstruction is booming and tourists are returning.
The geography of Lebanon is simple. Beirut lies midway along a
narrow coastal plain rising to high mountains, everything tucked
into an area half the size of Wales. The Beirut to Baalbek road
dips into the Beka'a valley - a vast upland of wheatfields
andvineyards suspended between snow-capped mountains. The sky lies
close about you, a sensation expressed in Baalbek's name - the
Semitic ...