The castle roof
Views all round.
Peripitus — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bdx — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vyacheslav Argenberg — CC BY 4.0 · Chaps the idol — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Joseph Azzam — CC BY-SA 3.0 · xiquinhosilva — CC BY 4.0 · O.Mustafin — Public domain · Bdx — CC BY-SA 4.0
A twelfth-century Crusader castle built by the Genoese Embriaco family, partly with stone from older Roman buildings. Saladin took it in 1188; its walls were partly pulled down in 1190 and rebuilt by the Crusaders in 1197. A small museum sits inside. The castle ticket also opens the archaeological site around it, the heart of ancient Byblos, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, lived in since about 5000 BC and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. Highlights include the Obelisk Temple with its small standing obelisks, the temple of Baalat Gebal, walls from the Persian period, a small Roman theatre facing the sea, and the royal tombs where the sarcophagus of Ahiram, now in the National Museum in Beirut, was found. The Greek name of the city, meaning papyrus, came from the papyrus trade that passed through it. Climb to the castle roof for a view over the whole site, the harbour and the sea. The site opens daily from morning to around sunset; allow an hour or two, with comfortable shoes and water in summer.
Views all round.
Small obelisks.
By the sea.
Old town, Byblos
Yes. The same ticket covers the castle and the archaeological site around it, with its temples, walls, Roman theatre and royal tombs.
