"The Umayyad City Of Aanjar..." `Anjar by coceng

`Anjar Travel Guide: 31 reviews and 193 photos

BAALBEK<<<<<AANJAR>>>>>JEITA GROTTO
LEBANON
8th April 2005 ( Friday )
The previous night while I was in Baalbek, the hotel guy suggested that I should go to Hermel as there's a nice pyramid-like monument there.
He even wanted to drive me for free there ! Well, I sort of trusted him anyhow.
I said yes to him...
On the next morning, I decided to just go back to Beirut as I would be meeting up with Riyad at 3 pm.
Instead on the way to Beirut, I could stop in a small town called Chtaura & from there I could go to Aanjar.
Hermel (I saw the photo) is too further up from Beirut ! It's almost near the Syrian border. I didn't think that I would have enough time to meet up with Riyad who would have a good plan for me anyway.
So, off I took a service taxi from Baalbek & stopped in Chtaura.
From Chtaura, I took another service taxi to a junction that would lead me to the ruins of The Umayyad City.
It was quite a walk from the junction to the ruins but I walked & walked...until I reached it. That was around 10 am.
My guidebook said 2 km but I think it could be 3 to 4 km !
It was a nice walk anyhow as I saw some nice sceneries along the way.
It was an amazing place although in the state of ruins but we could see how The Umayyad structured their city.
I was there until 12 pm & the wind was so strong ! Like there would be a thunderstorm...
Slowly, I thought I'd better walk back to the junction (nobody wanted to give me a lift...) & got myself a taxi back to Chtaura town.
From there, took a service taxi back to Beirut.

INFORMATION

Aanjar is about 60 km from Beirut. The nearest town is called Chtaura (44 km from Beirut) which is on the way to Baalbek.
Aanjar is a small Armenian town with the backdrop of the scenic Anti-Lebanon Range.
The ruins in Aanjar was discovered accidently by the archeologists excavated the site hoping to find another Roman city.
The ruins here were dated from the 1st Century of Islamic rule.
This ruins of an ancient Umayyad City was thought to be built by the sixth Umayyad Caliph called Walid I (AD 705 - 15). It is a walled & fortified city cut into 4 equal quaters.
The Roman effects can be seen in the public baths.
Nearly 600 shops have been uncovered here.
Aanjar is best visited either on the way going or back from Baalbek.
By public transport, it's best to catch a connection in Chtaura; A taxi would drop you at the entrance or a service taxi would drop us at the junction leading to the ruins, which is quite a walk nearly 2 to 3 km away.

Pros and Cons

Pros:The Best Preserved Umayyad Ruined City !
Cons:Over Looked By Most Tourists...
In a nutshell:Definitely An Excursion After / Before Baalbek !

Last visit to `Anjar: Apr 2005
Intro Updated Jul 13, 2005
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Comments (2)

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triplehelix Feb 28, 2006 at 8:15 PM

awesome ruins! i may be visiting this area in the fall. hope i get to see the ancient site.
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MalenaN Sep 2, 2005 at 10:36 AM

Looks like you also were the only visitor at the ruins. Nice photos Arnaud!