Temple of Jupiter

The ancient Phoenician city of Baalbek attracts tourists with the majestic ruins of a unique temple complex that has no analogues in the whole east. The complex was originally dedicated to the Phoenician god Baal. Later, his cult merged with the veneration of the Greek Helios, giving the city the name Heliopolis, and under the Romans temples dedicated to Jupiter, Venus and Dionysus were erected here.

The Temple of Jupiter is the main temple of the complex. Built under Emperor Nero, it was surrounded by a colonnade of fifty-two columns. Only six columns survived the earthquake that destroyed the temple. These are the tallest Roman columns in the world. The diameter of each is equal to three meters, at an altitude of twenty-two meters on the columns rests a frieze decorated with skillful carvings.

The temple is set on a grand terrace, at the base of which lie three stone blocks, called “trilitons”. The weight of one such stone exceeds a thousand tons, and the size of the stones used in the construction of the Egyptian pyramids.