A settlement in Lebanon which achieved importance in late Hellenistic and Roman times especially as a holy city for the predatory Ituraean tetrarchs and as a religious centre of the Bekaa River Valley region. Often known by its Greek name of Heliopolis (City of the Sun), it shows magnificent ruins of the Roman imperial period, particularly the Temples of Jupiter and Bacchus (AHSFC).

Baalbek is 86 kilometers from Beirut and 1050 meters high in altitude. It is nestled in a plain between the parallel ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains. Baal-Bek or town of Baal (who was a Phoenician god) gave the name to the town that still is in use ...