Beirut. The capital and largest city in Lebanon.
Has a population of more than 2.2 million people. It is the third-largest city in the Levant region and the fifteenth-largest in the Arab world.
One of the oldest cities in the world with its history fating back to 5000 years ago.
Beirut is Lebanon’s seat of government and plays an central role in the country’s economy.
Since the civil war, the city underwent major reconstruction with accountancy, advertising, banking, finance and law improved.
7 THINGS TO DO AND NOT TO DO IN BEIRUT CITY
- Don’t wear revealing clothes. Lebanon is a more reserved country. Instead, dress decently without revealing parts of your body.
- Don’t just stay in Beirut.There are some really gorgeous locations outside and you have to leave the city to experience them.
- Do not get into a taxi without agreeing on a price. Instead tell the driver where you’re going and agreeing on a price before you get in the car.
- Do not talk about politics or culture but instead avoid this touchy subject and focus more on other interesting subjects.
- Never forget that ‘Traveler’s Diarrhea’ Is a Real Thing. So don’t worry about it much if it happens. It will pass after you adjust to the conditions.
- Don’t take photos of the military. Instead use your camera to capture the beautiful scenery they are guarding.
- Avoid taking pictures of the local without permission. Instead ask politely before doing so.
8 MOST INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT BEIRUT
- Beirut experienced a renaissance of sorts in the mid-20th century.
- Following World War II, the Lebanese capital became a tourist destination and financial capital, nicknamed “the Paris of the Middle East”
- In the 1960s, Beirut was a popular tourist destination and cosmopolitan city.
- The St. George hotel was another glamorous destination. Like much of the city it was also shuttered during the Civil War. Although it was partially renovated, a bomb exploded there in 2005, killing 22, and the building has remained empty ever since.
- There’s 1 doctor per 10 person in Lebanon. (In Europe and America, there’s around 1 doctor per 100 person).
- Beirut was destroyed and rebuilt 7 times (this is why it’s compared to The Phoenix).
- Beirut is the 10th most popular shopping destination in the world.
- It was named “World Book Capital” in 2009.
History
Climate
Geography
8 MOST FAMOUS THINGS IN BEIRUT
#1 - Robert Mouawad Private Museum
The Robert Mouawad Private Museum was a personal house in Beirut’s Zokak el-Blat quarter till 2006 when it was once transformed into a museum through businessman and jeweler Robert Mouawad. This neo-gothic palace, erected in 1911 by means of Lebanese flesh presser and artwork collector Henri Philippe Pharaoun, homes its first owner’s eclectic series of aesthetic and historical objects of activity including Byzantine Mosaics, Roman marble sculptures, Chinese porcelain, Christian icons, manuscripts, and a brilliant carpet series – all of which is housed inside rooms adorned by using decorative nineteenth-century wood panels.
#2 - National Museum of Beirut
Sitting on the notorious Greenline, the city’s front line throughout the civil war, the National Museum of Beirut suffered more harm than most. Now restored returned to its full glory, it is once again domestic to the greatest and most considerable collections of archaeological artifacts in Lebanon, and of the largest somewhere in the Middle East. The 1,300-strong collection, housed in a construction stimulated by French design, levels from prehistory up to the Roman and Byzantine duration and the following Arab conquest. Highlights encompass intricately carved Phoenician sarcophagi belonging to the world’s most essential collection.
#3 - Hamra Street
Hamra Street, or as it known locally, Rue Hamra, is one of Beirut’s most important streets and commercial centers. From the sixties to the nineties it used to be home to intellectuals, journalists and artists frequenting a string of theaters and sidewalk cafes. Today it bears the marks of a shift in identity, aligned with western retail outlets, lodges and coffee shops, and additionally attracts large numbers of youths in its bars and clubs. A stroll via the entrance of René Moawad Garden situated on the identical avenue makes for a quick shift in the tempo of each day life on this busy street.
#4 - Corniche
The word corniche is aware of few higher referents than the one in Beirut. Encircling the city’s promontory for almost 5 kilometers from St. George Bay to its stop at Ramlet al-Bayda, this seaside promenade – first designed during the French Mandate period – offers large insights into the existence of the city. Here’s the chance to spot Beirut’s wealthiest sitting at upscale cafés and in luxurious cars, with a backdrop of the Mediterranean sea on one aspect and the summits of Mount Lebanon on the other.
#5 - Metropolis Art Cinema
The metropolis is now home to one of the Middle East’s most interesting cinematic venues. Situated at the heart of the historic Achrafieh district, Metropolis Art Cinema invests in harmonizing cultural diversity and fostering cultural communication through its programs wealthy in Arab and global art-house productions, auteur films and retrospectives. It also generally performs host to a variety of movie festivals.
#6 - Grand Omari Mosque
A go to to the Grand Omari Mosque takes you to the heart of Beirut’s layered history. Before being eclipsed with the aid of the Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, Al-Omari used to be the city’s most necessary one. The mosque knows its origins to antiquity; the foundations have been first laid for the development of a pagan Roman temple, later to be transformed into a Byzantine church, and a later nevertheless a Crusader church. Mamluk rulers eventually mounted the existing sandstone structure in the 13th century, though recent restorations have revealed many inscriptions from each period.
#7 - Saint George’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral
Situated on Beirut’s central Parliament square, and just above the ruins of the Roman law school, Saint George’s Cathedral sits on the identical website online shared by using previous historical and medieval churches, each of which had been reduced to ruins by means of subsequent earthquakes. The existing structure dates to the eighteenth century, making it the oldest extant church in the city. Following its restoration, it opened its doorways as soon as greater in 2003. Remains and artifacts from three previous church buildings excavated and discovered on website are housed in a museum under the cathedral.
#8 - Beirut Art Center
High on the listing of any artwork and sketch lover touring the town should be the Beirut Art Center (BAC). This minimally designed art center – housing an exhibition space, a screening and overall performance room, bookshop, and a mediatheque – sits on the banks of the Beirut River in an industrial area on the city’s outskirts. It has been open due to the fact 2009 and hosts many exhibitions by way of present day artists of high repute as properly as working at the back of the scenes to guide the contemporary artwork scene in Lebanon.