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Bestinlebanon.com | Lebanon Tourism | Sidon
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Sidon |
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Sidon
Castle |
Sidon, on the
coast 48 kilometers south of Beirut, is one of the Famous names in ancient history. But of
all of Lebanon's cities this is the most mysterious, for its past has been tragically
scattered and plundered.
In the 19th century, treasure hunters and amateur archaeologists made off with many of its
most beautiful and important objects, some of which can now be seen in foreign museums.
In this century too, ancient objects from Sidon (Saidoon is the Phoenician name, Saida in
Arabic), have turned up on the world's antiquities markets.
Other traces of its history lie beneath the concrete of modern constructions, perhaps
buried forever.
The challenge for today's visitor to Sidon then is to recapture a sense of this city's
ancient glory from the intriguing elements that still survive.
The largest city in south Lebanon, Sidon is a busy commercial center with the pleasant,
conservative atmosphere of a small town. Since Persian times this was known as the city of
gardens and even today it is surrounded by citrus and banana plantations.
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A
view of ancinet Sidon |
A long and glorious history
There is evidence that Sidon was inhabited as long ago as 4000 B.C., and perhaps as early
as Neolithic times (6000 - 4000 B.C.). The ancient city was built on a promontory facing
an island, which sheltered its fleet from storms and served as a refuge during military
incursions from the interior. In its wealth, commercial initiative, and religious
significance, Sidon is said to have surpassed all other Phoenician city states.
Sidon's Phoenician period began in the 12th - 10th century B.C. and reached its height
during the Persian Empire (550 - 330 B.C.). The city provided Persia, a great land power,
with the ships and seamen to fight the Egyptians and the Greek, a role that gave it a
highly favored position. The Persians maintained a royal park in Sidon and it was during
this time that the temple of Eshmoun was built.
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The
Castle: A closer view |
Glass manufacture, Sidon's most important enterprise in the
Phoenician era, was conducted on a vast scale and the production of purple dye was almost
as important. The small shell of the Murex trunculus was broken in order to extract the
pigment that was so rare it became the mark of royalty.
Like other Phoenician city states, Sidon suffered from a
succession of conquerors.
At the end of the Persian era in 351 B.C., unable to resist the superior forces of
Artaxerxes III, the desperate Sidonians locked their gates and set fire to their city
rather than to submit to the invader. More than 40,000 died in the conflagration. After
the disaster the city was too weak to oppose the triumphal march of Alexander the Great in
333 B.C. It sued for peace and the Hellenistic age of Sidon began.
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The
Sea Castle Bridge |
Under the successors of Alexander, Sidon, the "holy
city" of Phoenicia, enjoyed relative freedom and organized games and competitions in
which the greatest athletes of the region participated.
When Sidon, like the other cities of Phoenicia, fell under Roman domination, it continued
to mint its own silver coins. The Romans also built a theater and other major monuments in
the city. During the Byzantine period when the great earthquake of 551 A.D. destroyed most
of the cities of Phoenicia, Beirut's school of Law took refuge in Sidon. The town
continued quietly for the next century, until it was conquered by the Moslems in 636.
In 1111 Sidon was besieged and stormed by the Crusader Baldwin, who was soon to become
King of Jerusalem. Under Frankish rule, the city became the chief town of the Seigniory of
Sagette and the second and the four baronies of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem surrendered to Saladin in 1187, but it was re-occupied for a hundred years when
the Crusader Templars recaptured it briefly. They abandoned it for good in 1291, after the
fall of Acre to the Mamluke forces.
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The
Rest House |
In the 15th century, Sidon was one of the ports of Damascus
and it flourished once more during the 17th century when it was rebuilt by Fakhreddine II,
then ruler of Lebanon. Under his protection and encouragement, French merchants set up
profitable business enterprises in Sidon for trade between France and Syria. By the
beginning of the 19th century, however , Sidon was relatively obscure and remained so
until the mid-20th century when it developed into an important commercial and agricultural
center.
Archaelogical Excavations
Early French excavations led by Ernest Renan in the late 19th century uncovered the large
necropolis of Magharat Abloun outside the city. The royal necropoli at nearby Ayaa and Ain
el-Helwe were found shortly thereafter.
In 1937 Middle Bronze Age tombs were opened in several mountain villages overlooking Sidon
and at this time a number of archaeological surveys were conducted in and around the city.
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The
Souks |
Sidon Today
The entrance to Sidon from the north is on a wide divided highway lined with palm trees.
As you approach, the landmark Crusader Sea Castle and modern port installations are
immediately visible. The busy main street is full of small shops of every kind, including
patisseries, whose oriental delicacies are stacked in little pyramids.
Sidon is famous for a variety of local sweets which you can watch being made in the old
souk or in shops on the main street.
The particular specialty of Sidon is known as "senioura," a delicious crumbly
cookie.
A growing city with a modern seaport, Sidon is the South's commercial and financial
center. In prewar days it was a terminal and a refinery for Tapline, and now its huge
storage tanks are used for the import and local distribution of fuel. The commercial port,
the third largest in Lebanon, accommodates small freighters. Sidon is also the seat of
government for South Lebanon.
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Khan
Al Franj |
Visiting the Sites
The old section of modern Sidon developed at the end of the
Crusader period. Here the visitor will enjoy wandering along the sea front to the Crusader
Sea Castle, and looking around the old souks, “khans” (caravansaries) and other
medieval remnants.
The Sea Castle: Is a fortress built by the
Crusaders in the early 13th century on a small island connected to the mainland by a
causeway. A climb to the top leads to the roof where there is a good view of the port and
the old part of the city.
Today the castle consists primarily of two towers connected by a wall. In the outer walls
Roman columns were used as horizontal reinforcements, a feature often seen in
fortifications built on or near former Roman sites. The west tower is the better preserved
of the two. Old prints of the fortress show it to be one of great beauty, but little
remains of the embellishments that once decorated its ramparts. After the fall of Acre to
the Mamlukes all the sea castles were destroyed to prevent the Crusaders from
re-establishing footholds on the coast.
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The
Great Mosque |
Government Resthouse:
A government Resthouse on the waterfront next to the castle offers good food and
refreshment. Situated in a restored medieval building, the Resthouse is set in a
landscaped seaside terrace.The interior has vaulted ceilings and medieval decor. There is
also a fine patio with a fountain. Open from noon until 4 PM and from 7 PM -12 PM.
The Souks:
Between the Sea Castle and the Castle of St. Louis stretches the old town. Not far from
the Sea Castle is the picturesque vaulted souk of Sidon, where workmen still ply their
trades. On the edge of the souk is a traditional coffee house where male clientele meet to
smoke the narguileh (water pipe) and drink Turkish coffee. Fishermen sell their latest
catch at the market near the port not far from the souk's entrance.
Khan El Franj:
The Khan El Franj is one of the many khans or caravansaries built by Fakhreddine II for
merchants and goods. This is a typical khan with a large rectangular courtyard and a
central fountain surrounded by covered galleries.
The center of economic activity for the city in the 19th century, the khan also housed the
French consulate. Today it is being renovated to serve as Sidon's cultural center.
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The
castle by night |
The Great Mosque:
South of the souk on the way to the Castle of St. Louis, is the Great Mosque, formerly the
Church of St. John of the Hospitalers. The four walls of this rectangular building
(recently restored to their natural beauty) date to the 13th century. Originally a
fortress-like Crusader compound with its own chapel, it is still an imposing structure,
especially viewed from the seaside.
Qalaat El Muizz or The Castle of St. Louis:
The Castle of St. Louis was erected on the emplacement of a Fatimid fortress during the
Crusade led by French King Louis IX, popularly known as St. Louis. Built in the mid-13th
century, the present state of the castle makes it easy to observe various stages of the
restoration carried out in the Mamluke era, particularly work done in the 17th century by
Emir Fakhreddine II. At the foot of the hill are a dozen or so Roman columns scattered on
the ground.
Murex Hill: To the south of the citadel is a mound of debris called Murex Hill. This
artificial hill (100 meters long and 50 meters high) was formed by the accumulation of
refuse from the purple dye factories of Phoenician times. Mosaic tiling found at the top
of the mound suggests that Roman buildings were erected there. The hill today is covered
by houses and buildings as well as a cemetery.Broken murex shells can still be seen on the
lower part of the hill, but because of extensive construction, it is increasingly
inaccessible to the public.
Old Ports: The ancient Egyptian Port, so called because it
faced south towards Egypt, is located opposite the Castle of St. Louis and Murex Hill. An
active harbor in Phoenician times, it has silted up over the centuries. Today the north
channel harbor is used only for local fishing boats because Fakhreddine filled it in
during the 17th century to deny entry to the Turkish fleet. What remains of this harbor
goes back to the Roman era.
The Necropoli of Sidon
The three main necropoli of Sidon lie beyond the ancient city limits and were in use until
the late Roman and early Christian eras. These are the necropolis of Magharat Abloun, the
royal necropolis of Ayaa below the present village of Helalie, and the necropolis of Ain
el Helwe to the southeast. Located in what are now residential areas, no excavations are
in progress at any of these sites. South of the city an ancient cemetery known as Dekerman
was used until this century. It is also an archaeological site, with an extensive
collection of objects, mostly sarcophagi and tombs in situ, as well as fragments,
inscriptions and sculptures.
A number of circular Chalcolithic (4000 B.C.) foundations can also be seen here.
If you have time...
The Temple of Eshmoun
At the right of the bridge on the Awali River just before reaching Sidon, is a spot known
as "Bustan el Sheikh," site of the Temple of Eshmoun. This important monument
goes back to the Persian period (6th century B.C.) when Sidon was at its zenith.
As the god of healing, Eshmoun was identified with Asklepios, the Greek god of medical
arts. Each Phoenician city state had its own gods, and Eshmoun was one of the favorite of
Sidon during its golden age, the 6th and the 5th centuries B.C. Additions were made to the
temple in subsequent eras and it remained a sacred shrine and place of pilgrimage well
into the first centuries A.D. |
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