Deir el Qalaa
Deir el Qalaa, located near the village of Beit Meri in the
mountains 15km east of Beirut, is a Roman temple complex
and Byzantine residential-industrial complex built on a
promontory 800 meters above sea level. The name Deir
(meaning “monastery” in Arabic) refers to the fact that a
monastery was built at this site by Maronite monks during the
18th century. The monastery was built over a Roman temple
dating back to the first century A.D. This temple is considered
to be the third largest Roman temple in Lebanon, after the
Baalbeck and Niha temples.
Aqueduct of Zubaida
The name of Beirut means "the city of wells," which refers to
the large number of wells spread throughout the city to supply
water to its inhabitants. With the expanding urbanization during
the Roman period, the demand for running water grew dramatically, and
the existing wells and springs were not large enough to
accommodate the growing demand. The solution was to get water
from one of the springs located along the Beirut River. The nearest
spring was the Daychouniyeh source, situated 20km southeast of
Beirut. To transport this water to Beirut, the Roman architects
built a water channel. An aqueduct, which was built over an
arched, bridge-like structure known today as the Aqueduct of Zubaida, or "Qanater Zubaida," was built to transfer the water
across the Beirut River to channel it onward to Beirut. |