41 Kms from Beirut

Situated South of Beirut, this city was founded by the Phoenicians who named it Sidona, a name that reveals the primitive activities of the city: Fishing.

As you approach the city, the first thing that strikes you is " The Castle of the Sea", a 13th century Crusader fortress which surveys the shore from an islet at the mouth of the North harbor. The remains of the Castle of St. Louis stands to the South of the ancient harbor, close to the Hill of the Murex, from which the Phoenicians extracted their famous purple dye.

In 1963, the Antiquity Service discovered in Sidon an important Phoenician necropolis which the experts suppose it dates from the IVth century B.C. It seems that it concerns an underground construction formed of certain chambers designed to hold sarcophaguses, a sort of burial which was used at that era in Sidon.

Moreover, it has been possible to lay a hand at a skeleton of a woman which seems to have belonged to a royal family. A crown encrusted with green and blue gems, rings mounted with precious gems and bracelets around the ankles were found in the sarcophagus. Sidon was a major Phoenician city. Alexander the Great invaded and burned it down to wake up again.

Later, Sidon came under Persian control. The city lived under the control of a constitutional monarchy having a king whose power was prolonged by the "Hundred Council". In spite of total Persian domination Sidon enjoyed a certain autonomy that gave the city a chance to prosper. A great cultural exchange movement was produced between Greece and Sidon. The Crusaders left a beautiful sea castle. The Arabs came later and left their mark on the city.

You should see:

• The Castle of the Sea...can not miss it.
• The Citadel or St. Louis Castle (1200 A.D)
• The Great Mosque, once the Church of Saint John Hospital
• The Khan El-Frange, one of the most picturesque bazaars built by Emir Fakhreddine.