Water from the rock - The Anjar Beirut

Beirut, Lebanon
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Anjar, 58 km (36 miles) from Beirut, is completely different from any other archaeological experience you'll have in Lebanon. At other historical sites in the country, different epochs and civilizations are superimposed one on top of the other. Anjar dates exclusively from one period: the Umayyad dynasty. Lebanon's other sites were founded millennia ago, but Anjar is a relative newcomer, founded by Walid I Ibn Abed Al-Malik, Caliph of the Umayyads, and going back to the early 8th century AD. Unlike Tyre and Byblos, which claim continuous habitation since the day they were founded, Anjar flourished for only a few decades. Other than a small Umayyad mosque in Baalbeck, there are few other remnants from this important period of Arab history in Lebanon.

The city of Anjar was founded by Caliph Walid I at the beginning of the 8th century. The ruins reveal a very regular layout, reminiscent of the palace-cities of ancient times, and are a unique testimony to city planning under the Umayyads. In Anjar, discover the only stands as the single Umayyad site in Lebanon, located near the Litani River and 58 km from the capital of Beirut. Anjar takes its name from the Arabic term ‘ayn al-jaar, meaning water from the rock - a reference to the streams that flow from adjacent Lebanon and the anti-Lebanon mountain range.