Lebanon’s Little Petra: The Haidara Monument – Qabb Elias

The first time I heard about a deer reserve in Lebanon was through Plus961 and today I learned about Haidara, also known as Lebanon's Little Petra. The Haidara monument is located in the village of Qab Elias, overlooking the Bekaa valley. It consists of a 10 meter long monument, possibly a Roman tomb, carved into a steep limestone cliff. It's 13 meters wide and was called "Temple of the Sun” due to its polished façade…

Antonov Airplane Crash in 1977 Over Aramoun Lebanon

I came across this story from 1977 on LebanonArchives' timeline and it was the first time I hear about it. An Antonov airplane departed from Varna carrying a crew of nine and tons of frozen meat on the 13th of May 1977, and was cleared for landing by the air traffic control in Beirut. However the plane struck high tension power cables on its way down and crashed over the town of Aramoun. All nine…
Food

Tokyo Restaurant – Beirut

2 years ago
I love discovering or reading about old gems in Beirut and I’m surprised I had never heard about Tokyo restaurant until today. In fact, I passed right next to it countless times but for some ...
History

A 1930 Railroad Map of Lebanon

2 years ago
Urban Planner & L’Orient LeJour Feature Reporter Mohamed el Chamaa shared this amazing historic map of rail links in Lebanon (via Elena Haddad, The Chain Effect co-founder). As you can see, the rails covered all ...
History

Old Pictures of Beirut From The National Library of France Archives

2 years ago
I stumbled upon today an aerial shot of Beirut’s port taken in 1929 by François Pierre-Alype, found on the National Library of France website. I dug out the website, searched for all the Beirut-related pictures ...
Automotive

Electric Trains in Lebanon in the 1990s?

2 years ago
I stumbled upon this old piece of paper from 1994, with a whole page dedicated to Lebanon entering the era of electric trains, accompanied by a small map with all the train stops. The map ...
History

Seven Facts About Lebanon at the Olympics

2 years ago
This Facebook post inspired me to write these interesting facts about Lebanon’s participation at the Olympics throughout history. Six Lebanese athletes are currently taking part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, three women and three men. ...
Automotive

When Did The First Car Enter Lebanon?

3 years ago
Old Beirut shared a picture yesterday of the first car to enter in Lebanon, as per their claim. The car, which was brought to Lebanon in 1906 was owned by AUB President Dr. Howard Bliss ...
Baladi

2,600 Year-old Wine “Factory” Discovered Five Miles South of Sidon

3 years ago
National Geographic shared an amazing discovery today by archaeologists in Lebanon, who have “unearthed new evidence of the extensive overseas trade in wine by the ancient Phoenicians, with the discovery of the oldest wine press ...
History

Tripoli (Victoria) Naval Cemetery

4 years ago
We’ve all been to Tripoli, but I bet few of you know that there’s a naval cemetery from WWII in Al Mina. The cemetery is managed and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), ...
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