SIDON

Sidon, on the coast 48 kilometers south of Beirut, is one of the famous names in ancient history. But of all of Lebanon’s cities this is the most mysterious, for it’s past has been tragically scattered and plundered. In the 19^th century, treasure hunters and amateur archaeologists made off with many of its most beautiful and important objects, some of which can now be seen in foreign museums.

In this century too, ancient objects from Sidon (Saidoon is the Phoenician name, Saida in Arabic), have turned up on the world’s antiquities markets. Other traces of its history lie beneath the concrete of modern constructions, perhaps buried forever. The challenge for today’s visitor to Sidon then is to recapture a sense of this city’s ancient glory from the intriguing elements that still survive.

The largest city in south Lebanon, Sidon is a busy commercial center with the pleasant, conservative atmosphere of a small town. Since Persian times this was known as the city of gardens and even today it is surrounded by citrus and banana plantations.

A LONG AND GLORIOUS HISTORY:

There is evidence that Sidon was inhabited as long ago as 4000 B.C., and perhaps as early as Neolithic times (6000 - 4000 B.C.). The ancient city was built on a promontory facing an island, which sheltered its fleet from storms and served as refuge during military incursions from the interior. In its wealth, commercial initiative, and religious significance, Sidon is said to have surpassed all other Phoenicians city-states.

Sidon’s Phoenician period began in the 12^{th - 10th} century B.C. and reached its height during the Persian Empire (550 - 330 B.C.). The city provided Persia, a great land power, with the ships and seamen to fight Egyptians and Greeks, a role that gave it a highly favored position. The Persians maintained a royal park in Sidon and it was during this time that the temple of Eshmoun was built.

Glass manufacture, Sidon’s most important enterprise in the Phoenician era, was conducted on a vast scale and the production of purple dye was almost as important. The small shell of the Murex trunculus was broken in order to extract the pigment that was so rare it became the mark of royalty.

Like other Phoenician city-states, Sidon suffered from a succession of conquerors. At the end of the Persian era in 351 B.C., unable to resist the superior forces of the emperor Artaxerxes III, the desperate Sidonians locked their gates and set fire to their city rather than submit to the invader. More than 40,000 died in the conflagration. After this disaster the city was too weak to oppose the triumphal march of Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. It sued for peace and the Hellenistic age of Sidon began.

Under the successors of Alexander, Sidon, the “holy city” of Phoenicia, enjoyed relative freedom and organized games and competitions in which the greatest athletics of the region participated.

In 1111 Sidon was besieged and stormed by the Crusader Baldwin, who was soon to become king of Jerusalem. Under Frankish rule, the city became the chief town of the Seigniory of Sagette and the second of the four baronies of the kingdom of Jerusalem.

Sidon surrendered to Saladin in 1187, but it was re-occupied for a hundred years when the Crusader Templars recaptured it briefly. They abandoned it for good in 1291, after the fall of Acre to the Mamluke forces.

1- The Sea Castle

2- Resthouse

3- The Souks

4- Khan el-Franj

5- The Great Mosque

6- The Castle of St. Louis

7- Murex Hill

8- Port: north channel harbor

In the 15^th century, Sidon was one of the ports of Damascus and it flourished once more during the 17th century when it was rebuilt by Fakhreddine II, then ruler of Lebanon. Under his protection and encouragement, French merchants set up profitable business enterprises in Sidon for trade between France and Syria. By the beginning of the 19th century, however, Sidon was relatively obscure and remained so until the mid-20th century when it developed into an important commercial and agricultural center.

SIDON TODAY

The entrance to Sidon from the north is on a wide divided highway lined with palm trees. As you approach, the landmark Crusader Sea Castle and modern port installations are immediately visible. The busy main street is full of small shops of every kind, including patisseries, whose oriental delicacies are stacked in little pyramids.

Sidon is famous for a variety of local sweets, which you can watch being made in the old souk or in shops on the main street. The particular specialty of Sidon is known as “senioura,” a delicious crumbly cookie.

A growing city with a modern seaport, Sidon is the South’s commercial and financial center. In prewar days it was a terminal and a refinery for Tapline, and now its huge storage tanks are used for the import and local distribution of fuel. The commercial port, the third largest in Lebanon, accommodates small freighters. Sidon is also the seat of government for South Lebanon.

VISITING THE SITES

The old section of modern Sidon developed at the end of the Crusader period. Here the visitor will enjoy wandering along the sea front to the Crusader sea Castle and looking around the old souks, khans (caravansaries) and other medieval remnants.

1. The sea Castle is a fortress built by the Crusaders in the early 13^th century on a small island connected to the mainland by a causeway. A climb to the top leads to the roof where there is a good view of the port and the old part of the city.

Today the castle consists primarily of two towers connected by a wall. In the outer walls Roman columns were used as horizontal reinforcement, a feature often seen in fortifications built on or near former Roman sites. The west tower is the better preserved of the two.

Old prints of the fortress show it to be one of great beauty, but little remains of the embellishments that ones decorated its ramparts. After the fall of Acre to the Mamlukes all the sea castles were destroyed to prevent the Crusaders from re-establishing footholds on the coast.

2. A government Resthouse on the waterfront next to the castle offers good food and refreshment. Situated in a restored medieval building, the Resthouse is set in a landscaped seaside terrace. The interior has vaulted ceilings and medieval decor. There is also a fine patio with a fountain. Open from noon until 4:00 pm and from 7:00 pm - 12:00 pm.

3. The Souks. Between the Sea Castle and the Castle of Saint Louis stretches the old town. Not far from the Sea Castle is the picturesque vaulted souk of Sidon, were workmen still ply their trades. On the edge of the souk is a traditional coffee house where male clientele meat to smoke the narguileh (water pipe) and drink Turkish coffee. Fishermen sell their latest catch at the market near the port not far from the souk’s entrance.

5. The Great Mosque. South of the souk on the way to the Castle of St. Louis, is the Great Mosque, formerly the Church of St. John of the Hospitalers. The four walls of this rectangular building (recently restored to their natural beauty) date to the 13^th century. Originally fortress-like Crusader compound with its own chapel, it is still an imposing structure, especially viewed from the seaside.

6. Qalaat El Muizz or The Castle of St. Louis. The Castle of St. Louis was erected on the emplacement of a Fatimit fortress during the Crusade led by French King Louis IX, popularly known as St. Louis.

Built in the mid-13^th century, the present state of the Castle makes it easy to observe various stages of the restoration carried out in the Mamluke era, particularly work done in the 17th century by Emir Fakhreddine II. At the foot of the hill are a dozen or so Roman columns scattered on the ground.

7. Murex Hill. To the south of the citadel is a mound of debris called Murex Hill. This artificial hill (100 meters long and 50 meters high) was formed by the accumulation of refuse from the purple dye factories of Phoenician times. Mosaic tiling found at the top of the mound suggests that Roman buildings were erected there. The hill today is covered by houses and buildings as well as a cemetery. Broken murex shells can still be seen on the lower part of the hill, but because of extensive construction, it is increasingly inaccessible to the public.

8. Old Ports. The ancient Egyptian Port, so called because it faced south towards Egypt, is located opposite the Castle of St. Louis and Murex Hill. An active harbor in Phoenician times, it has silted up over the centuries.

Today the north channel harbor is used only for local fishing boats because Fakhreddine filled it in during the 17^th century to deny entry to the Turkish fleet. What remains of this harbor goes back to the Roman era.

9. The Necropoli of Sidon. The three main necropolis of Sidon lie beyond the ancient city limits and were in use until the late Roman and early Christian eras. These are the necropolis of Ayaa below the present village of Helalie, and the necropolis of Ain el Helwe to the southeast. Located in what are now residential areas, no excavations are in progress at any of these sites.

South of the city in ancient cemetery known as Dekerman was used until this century. It is also an archaeological site, with an extensive collection of objects, mostly sarcophagi and tombs in situ, as well as fragments, inscriptions and sculptures. The number of circular Chalcolithic (4000 B.C.) foundations can also be seen here.

IF YOU HAVE TIME

The Temple of Eshmoun. At the right of the bridge on the Awali River just before reaching Sidon, is a spot known as “Bustan el Sheikh,” site of the Temple of Eshmoun. This important monument goes back to the Persian period (6^th century B.C.) when Sidon was at its zenith.

As the god of healing, Eshmoun was identified with Asklepios, the Greek god of medical arts. Each Phoenician city-state had its own gods, and Eshmoun was one of the favorites of Sidon during its golden age, the 6th and 5th centuries B.C.

Additions were made to the temple in subsequent eras and it remained a sacred shrine and place of pilgrimage well into the first centuries A.D.