A photo from Baalbek, Lebanon taken in May 2025. Baalbek's history goes back at least 11,000 years. It was conquered by Alexander The Great and renamed Heliopolis and went through Roman rule, Christianization and the Arab conquest, Mongol sacking and Ottoman rule.

It's commonly referred to as The Roman Ruins by Lebanese and other Arabs, but these ruins actually predate the Romans by a very significant timespan.

Nowadays, Baalbek has a huge Shia population, and it was quite unnerving to visit there as while we were assured it was safe. We did not know it was a Hezbollah Heartland, and I am quite visibly from a country not friendly with them. However, my family and I managed to hide our identity safely (°_°;) and quickly noped out of there after seeing the Ruins.

The Archeological Site has two main monuments, The Temple of Bacchus which is surprisingly well maintained, and The Temple of Jupiter which has seen some damage over the years.

Photo taken on a Minolta Hi-Matic AF2, inside the Archeological Site.

It's quite sad what is happening to Lebanon right now, however I think Baalbek and this site stands as a good reminder that the land and it's people are resilient, and have survived oppression and invasion for millennia, and millennia to come.