Tire - details about the city, weather, what to see, entertainment, reviews, photos, etc. A. i. Furman Tire in the bible

Tire is also an important religious center; it was here that the first Christian communities appeared. The city is also mentioned in the Bible as one of the places where Jesus Christ visited, here he performed the first miracle. Since 1979, Tire has been under the protection of UNESCO as a city that is one of the world's treasures.

Now the old part of Tire is located on the peninsula, and the new one is on the mainland. There are few hotels in the city (about 2-3), but tourists have no problems with accommodation, there are enough places for everyone. Prices for hotel rooms are quite reasonable.

Tourists are mainly attracted by the ruins of Tire during the Roman Empire. The Roman road leading to the Arc de Triomphe, which in Roman times was the entrance to the city, has been perfectly preserved to this day. On both sides of the road, along the way, there are many sarcophagi carved from stone and marble. And one side of the road is accompanied by an aqueduct. In the 2nd century a hippodrome was built on the territory of Tire, the ruins of which are well preserved. An arts festival is held at the hippodrome every summer. During the time of the Roman Empire, the hippodrome accommodated 20,000 spectators, and its length is 480 meters.

In Tyre, it is also worth seeing the Palace of Eshmun, the Colosseum, two ports from the time of King Hiram, the ruins of the temple of the crusaders.

Perhaps the most colorful part of Tire is the fishing harbor: a quiet marina, an abundance of fishing boats, workshops where these same boats are made according to a technology that has not changed for several centuries. You can relax in one of the cafes or restaurants located in the harbour.

Walking from the fishing harbor towards the lighthouse, you will see the excavations of al-Mina. Be sure to take a walk here and get to know the city as it was many centuries ago. At the entrance there is a large shopping area of the era of the Roman Empire, after passing through the square, on the main street, the theater will appear in front of you. Once upon a time, water games were held here. The theater is a rectangular building, seating is arranged in five tiers, and a system of cisterns is placed around the theater. The theater is followed by a sports complex with baths, where wrestlers trained. Very interesting place- Cathedral of the Holy Cross, built in the 12th century. Now the foundation of granite columns has remained from it, and earlier the cathedral was the place of coronation of the rulers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. According to some reports, the remains of Frederick Barbarossa, the outstanding German emperor, are buried here. During the existence of Phoenicia, on the site of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, there was a temple of the god Melkart, who was considered the patron saint of Tyre.

Every year Tire hosts a festival where folk performers from all over the Mediterranean perform. This festival is held on the ruins of a stadium from the time of the Roman Empire. If you want to learn more about the East, its culture, then you should definitely visit the Festival of Folk Performers in Tyre.

Attractions around Thira

According to the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ performed his first great miracle, turning water into wine, at the wedding celebrations in Cana. There is still lively debate about where the biblical city of Cana was located, but the people of Lebanon are sure that a miracle happened in the town of Cana, located 10 km southeast of Tyre. Evidence of the miraculous transformation of drinks, of course, has not been preserved, but the main attraction of the village - Cana's cave - deserves attention. According to legend, it was here that Jesus spent the night before performing a miracle. On the way to the cave, pay attention to the ancient wall bas-reliefs carved into the rock, depicting the life of the Savior (The cave is allowed from 8 am to sunset, the entrance costs 4000 LBP for adults and 2000 LBP for children).

Continuing for another 18 km, you can reach the town of Tibnin to admire the 12th century Crusader castle built on a hill in the city center. In clear weather, breathtaking views of the fields, mountains and coastline open from the walls of the castle.

Nutrition

Fast food establishments "bunch" on the busy street of Abu Deeb. The ubiquitous falafel and shawarma are served here; the most popular eatery among locals is called Abu Deeb. For something more substantial, we recommend going to the Tanit restaurant near the fishing port. Their specialties are a huge amount of "meze", steaks and a bar with foreign spirits, beloved by NATO soldiers. Another nice option is called "Tiros" - there is delicious food at affordable prices, and live music sounds on Saturdays. For the purpose of dinner "with pomp" you have a direct road to the "Little Phoenician", which is in the old port - the local "trick" - delicious fish dishes and an open terrace above the old pier.

Accommodation

In Tire, it is especially not customary to stop at night - it is quite possible to see archaeological sites during daylight hours. However, for fans of the excavations, there are several options for accommodation, which are especially convenient if you decide to go to Sidon in the morning. The most pompous hotel bears the unpretentious name "Rest House" and offers spacious modern rooms, an excellent restaurant, a cozy bar, two outdoor pools and a private sandy beach for 140-170 USD (there are also "suites" for 400 USD). A simpler, but no less charming option is the Al-Fanar Hotel-Restaurant. A homely atmosphere reigns here, delicious traditional dishes are prepared and they are asked to pay democratic 70-90 USD per night.

Transport

Given the small size of Tire, it can be easily bypassed on foot. If by the end of the day you get tired of walking, a taxi is at your service. Meters have not been heard of in Tire since the time of Queen Elissa, so you should discuss the amount of payment with the driver before getting into a taxi.

How to get to Thira

The easiest way to get to Tire is by road from Beirut - there are buses, minibuses and fixed-route taxis "service" on the route. The bus ride will take from one to one and a half hours and will cost 3000 LBP; they leave every 15 minutes from 5 am to 9 pm from the Cola transport station in the Lebanese capital. Minibuses from Beirut "waddle" for one to two hours, depending on the driver's skills; the fare will cost 2000-3000 LBP. "Service" is the fastest way to get to Thira. Cars start off as soon as all places are filled; fare - 10-15 thousand LBP.

A trip to Tire can be combined with a visit to Sidon - buses run between the two cities, travel time is about 30-45 minutes, the journey will cost 1500 LBP.

Story

Tyr is the mother of the Phoenician peoples. There is a legend about the foundation of the city. The appearance of Tyr is associated with the Phoenician god Melqart, who was the son of the goddess Astarte. According to legend, it was at the birthplace of Melqart that the ancient Phoenician city was founded. The same legend says that even before the appearance of the first settlement on the site of Tire, this small piece of land moved freely across the Mediterranean Sea. Later, by order of Melkar, they found the place where he was born and sacrificed an eagle, when the blood of a majestic bird fell on the rocks of the island, the island stopped at a distance of about 800 meters from the coast. In the 28th century BC, the inhabitants of the town built a temple in honor of Melkart, in gratitude for this, he allowed the townspeople to colonize a fairly large section of the Mediterranean coast. In front of the entrance to the temple there were two columns of pure gold, each 9 meters high. They walked barefoot around the territory of the temple; daily there was a ritual of sacrifice, which was accompanied by dances.

In the 6th century BC, Tire was destroyed by the army of Nebuchadnezzar, but the conquerors did not achieve their goal, they wanted to get gold, jewelry, and most of the inhabitants managed to collect all their property with them and move to an island near Tyre. A new Tire was built there. The mainland, next to which these two islands were located, was for them protection from storms. In the 9th century BC. The islands were connected by an isthmus to the mainland by order of King Hiram, thereby forming an artificial cape. During the time of Alexander the Great, the isthmus was destroyed, and a pier was built in its place, which was much larger than the isthmus. Macedonian personally poured the first two buckets of sand into the base of the dam. All work on the construction of the dam was carried out manually. The trunks of cedars brought from the mountains of Lebanon were hammered into the bottom of the sea, for the full provision of building materials, the inhabitants were forced to demolish their houses. Thus, the island eventually turned into a peninsula. By the way, it is worth noting that Tire is the only city that did not surrender to Alexander the Great without a fight, the inhabitants preferred a bloody war to a humiliating peace and, as best they could, fought for honor hometown. Some details of the battles and examples of the heroic deeds of the inhabitants that have survived to this day are known. When the ships of Alexander the Great anchored, thereby blocking the harbor, the inhabitants of Tyre swam to them and cut the ropes of the anchors. After this incident, by order of Alexander the Great, the ropes on all ships were replaced with anchor chains. The siege lasted seven months, after which, nevertheless, Alexander the Great seized power in his own hands. A significant part of the population of Tyre was killed, and those who still managed to survive were soon sold into slavery. It was during the reign of Alexander the Great that the Lebanese cedar became a rare tree, this was due to the fact that Alexander, in addition to building a dam, also used cedar in the manufacture of ships, cedar forests were massively cut down. During Phoenician times, Tire was famous for its glass and textiles. The merchants of Tyre conducted a peaceful expansion of the Mediterranean in order to find sources of raw materials and markets for products. It was Tire that was the first city where they began to use money - minted coins. The influence of Phoenicia affected the development of the city. Tire developed quite quickly. From Tire began a number of sea expeditions in the Mediterranean, including to Spain and beyond Gibraltar. In the 18th century, the city became one of the most important suppliers of building materials throughout the Mediterranean coast. At different times, the city was dominated by different countries and rulers, experienced many events, in memory of which there were interesting monuments, temples, ruins, and so on.

One of the oldest cities in Lebanon and a place of pilgrimage for lovers of ancient history tourists, Tire boasts a remarkable archaeological park - and its scale is so huge that UNESCO, including the city on the World Heritage List in 1984, was forced to divide the sights into three vast zones: in Al-Mina-1 and Al-Mina-2, you can see the oldest evidence of the activities of the civilizations of the Middle East - the Egyptians, Romans and Byzantines, and Al-Bass is entirely dedicated to Roman "works", of which the most remarkable are the hippodrome for 20 thousand spectators and the arched gallery. NATO soldiers and the Al-Bass refugee camp, almost at the entrance to the archaeological park, slightly overshadow the picture, and there are no people who want to stay in the city for a long time, so it makes sense to come here on a one-day excursion.

According to the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ performed his first great miracle, turning water into wine, at a wedding celebration in Cana, 13 km from Tyre.

How to get to Thira

Prices on the page are for March 2019.

Search for flights to Beirut (nearest airport to Tire)

How to navigate in the city

The oldest part of the city is located on a narrow promontory protruding into the sea. Here, right behind the fishing port, where the colorful boats of local fishermen and large trawlers moor interspersed, there is a Christian quarter, and immediately after it begins the Al-Mina archaeological park, both parts of it. Al-Bass Park is located in the depths of the city, in close proximity to the Palestinian refugee camp of the same name.

Transport

4 things to do in Tire

Shout "Carthage, I'm coming!" on the embankment of Tyre, becoming like the Phoenician queen-fugitive Elissa. Then, of course, hurry to Tunisia.
Walk along the main street of the Roman city, intricately paved with mosaics - it is 18 centuries old!
Take a walk along the grandiose baths and regret that the scale of washing is not the same now.
After visiting the ruins, dine in style at the "Little Phoenician" in the old port.

Thira Hotels

Among the most notable ruins of the park are large-scale Roman baths and a rectangular area adjacent to them, which could accommodate up to 2,000 spectators - presumably watching an ancient form of water polo.

Cuisine and restaurants

Fast food establishments "bunch" on the busy street of Abu Deeb. The ubiquitous falafel and shawarma are served here; the most popular eatery among locals is called Abu Deeb. For something more substantial, we recommend going to the Tanit restaurant near the fishing port. Their traditional dishes are a huge amount of "meze", steaks and a bar with foreign spirits, beloved by NATO soldiers. Another nice option is called "Tiros" - there is delicious food at affordable prices, and live music sounds on Saturdays. For the purpose of dinner "with pomp" you have a direct road to the "Little Phoenician", which is in the old port - the local "trick" - delicious fish dishes and an open terrace above the old pier.

The splendor of the monuments of Tyre

Entertainment and attractions of Thira

Al-Mina Archaeological Park includes ruins dating back to the 3rd millennium BC - once an Egyptian harbor was located on this site, later the sea receded, giving space for later Roman construction. Note the mosaic-paved street, lined on both sides with columns of green marble imported from Greece. Among the most notable ruins of the park are large-scale Roman baths 2-3 in and a rectangular viewing platform adjacent to them, accommodating up to 2000 spectators - presumably watching an ancient variety of water polo.

A 5-minute walk from Al Mina are the ruins medieval castle crusaders (12th century), to which several streets of the Roman and Byzantine periods lead.

The Al Bass Archaeological Park is located about 2 km from the ruins of Al Mina. The first thing to do here is to see the ancient Roman necropolis with hundreds of sarcophagi beautifully carved from marble - on some you can read the names of the "inhabitants", others are poetically decorated with lines from the Iliad. Next, you should definitely admire the surprisingly well-preserved arched gallery of Emperor Hadrian (2nd century), which rose to a height of 20 meters, walk along the Roman road 1.6 km long and take a walk along the largest and first preserved ancient Roman hippodrome in the world - it once held more than 20 thousand spectators! Here are the ruins of the aqueduct, which delivered water to the baths of Al-Mina.

Cana Cave

The cave is open from 8 am to sunset, the entrance costs 4000 LBP for adults and 2000 LBP for children.

The ancient city of Tyre. Its history is full of heroism and tragedy. Tire was the only city that, unlike other Phoenician cities, did not surrender to Alexander the Great. The inhabitants of Tyre preferred a cruel war to a humiliating world. The consequences of insane courage were horrendous. The once crowded streets are empty. The city has turned into a realm of the dead.
There were various legends about the foundation of Tyre. The Phoenicians themselves called their city Tzor, "rock", as it was located on a rocky island. Astarte found here a star that had fallen from the sky and gave birth to the sea god Melkart, the future patron of Tyre. Legends say that before the founding of the first settlement, this tiny piece of land plowed the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Melqart, who taught the Canaanites how to build ships, ordered the people to find their birthplace. There they were to sacrifice an eagle that fought a serpent. As soon as the blood of the eagle sprinkled the rocks, the island instantly stopped. It happened eight hundred meters from the shore. Since then, the Tyrian sailors began to donate ship anchors to Melkart, the "sea baal". In the XXVIII century BC. the townspeople erected a temple in his honor. In front of him stood two nine-meter columns of pure gold. The priests walked around the temple grounds barefoot. Daily sacrifices were accompanied by ritual dances. In gratitude, Melqart allowed the inhabitants of the city to colonize the vast Mediterranean coast.
Citizens of the colonies and the metropolis, in turn, attributed to their patron the creation of everything that they especially valued. According to legend, it was Melkart who taught people to extract purple-bearing mollusks from the bottom of the sea. After the body of the mollusk dried in the sun, a drop of bright liquid remained in the shell. The drops were gathering. They made the paint, which was used to dye the fabric. Its cost was incredibly high: only the kings and their entourage could afford to buy a cut for a tunic. Phoenician merchants supplied purple to the Greeks and Romans, who were convinced that their mainland was called Europe thanks to the Phoenician, the daughter of the Tyrian king Agenore. As you know, a bull with sad eyes stole Europa when she was walking on the Tyrian coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
In the X century BC. King Hiram rebuilt the main sanctuary of the city. It was surrounded by accommodation for the overnight stay of pilgrims. Melqart came to them in a dream. His divinations about the future were deciphered by Tyrian dream interpreters. The gods then did not know that in just a few centuries Phenicia would be visited by the descendant of Hercules and Achilles, the son of Zeus, at whose birth Artemis herself was present. This son was Alexander III, better known as Alexander the Great. Before the start of the campaign, he went to Delphi to Apollo to listen to his thoughts about the upcoming action. It was winter, and Apollo, as you know, flew away from Delphi for the winter. The oracles were silent. So there was no one to ask about the future. Alexander tried to drag the priestess of Apollo into the temple so that she could predict the fate of the Asian campaign. The priestess, fighting back, called out, "Oh, Alexander, do you think you're invincible?" The last word reassured the Macedonian king, and with a light heart he moved to the East to recapture the cities once lost by the Greeks. In the spring of 334 BC. the army of long-haired, short-legged, smooth-shaven and sweet-smelling from oils, Alexander treacherously, without declaring war, attacked the Persians. The Macedonian started the war almost as a beggar. After the first battle, the Persian king Darius promised Alexander to pay as much as the inhabitants of all of Macedonia could not carry away. Alexander refused. He had already decided to conquer the Phoenician cities, which provided ships and crew for the Persian navy. It was very easy to do this, since the city-states that competed with each other in the Mediterranean markets were at enmity with each other. Beeble gave up immediately. This city hoped with the help of Alexander to restore its former power. Then Sidon surrendered. Its inhabitants believed that under a new ruler they would finally see Tyr on its knees. Alexander's march southward from Sidon was briefly halted by Tyrian envoys. They laid a golden wreath on the head of the conqueror of Phoenicia and declared their readiness to submit to the will of the king. Alexander asked the ambassadors to tell the Tyrians that he wished to offer sacrifices to Melqart in a temple on the island. The Tyrians advised the Macedonian to make a sacrifice in Paletira, that is, in Old Tire, a city on the mainland. The commander could not endure such an insult. One of the longest and most stubborn sieges in the history of war began. Alexander the Great decided to connect the island to the mainland with a dam. He was the first to pour two buckets of sand into its base. The inhabitants of Paletir were forced to demolish their own houses so that the dam would not lack building materials. Everything was done by hand, without horse traction. From the mountains of Lebanon, cedar trunks were dragged, which were hammered into the seabed. This was the beginning of the predatory extermination of the Phoenician forests. Alexander built his fleet from cedar and got so carried away that this tree is still a rarity in Lebanon. Before the arrival of the Macedonians, the mountain slopes of Phoenicia were covered with lush vegetation.
The dam to the island was pulled for seven months, exactly the same time lasted forty thousand inhabitants of Tyre. In July 332 BC. troops entered the city. 6,000 Phoenicians were slaughtered, 13,000 sold into slavery. As a warning to the rebellious, 2,000 defenders were nailed to crosses. Crosses stood along the main road, and the corpses were not removed from them for several weeks. The Macedonians who died during the assault (there were about four hundred) were buried according to the rite described by Homer in the Iliad: the bodies were burned, the bones were washed with wine, wrapped in purple and placed in a tomb along with weapons. So they buried the Homeric Patroclus and Hector.
From Tyre, Macedonian went to conquer Egypt. This country attracted Alexander irresistibly. The peoples of the Mediterranean considered it the cradle of the most respected and most ancient culture. The Egyptians welcomed the king as a liberator from the Persian yoke. He was declared pharaoh, the son of the sun god Ra. The new ruler ordered the construction of a temple with a sanctuary in his honor in Karnak.
In 331 BC the victorious army returned to Phoenicia. Alexander set up a court camp in Tyre. The king was visited by architects, artists, sculptors, writers, philosophers, historians, poets. In Tire lived relatives of the defeated Phoenician aristocrats, the most noble of the hetaerae. Tribute flowed into the city from already conquered cities, here, under the chairmanship of Alexander, a court was held, ambassadors of foreign powers were received here. No more than two years have passed since the beginning of the campaign, a third of the world was conquered, and Alexander decided to give the troops a break from military affairs. Idleness sucked. Alexander fought with her as best he could. He arranged sports games, like the Greek Olympiads. Chariot racing, pentathlon, wrestling and fisticuffs were especially popular. Comic battles were played out between "friends" and "enemies". "Friends", led by the king, invariably won, however, this did not give the commander much pleasure. Soldiers smeared him with sheep droppings, put him on a donkey and passed by, singing obscene songs. Theatrical olympiads were often held in Tyre. Actors from Italy, Asia Minor, Greece came here. They read poetry, staged Euripides and Sophocles. Soldiers preferred hilarious actors. They beat women with leather phalluses, committed theatrical violence against them, urinated and relieved themselves, engaged in masturbation right in front of the audience. The actresses performed something like a cancan, exposing "" everything that the public wanted to see. Alexander believed that such a "front-line theater" helps soldiers get rid of fear and longing for their homeland. In May 331 BC. the thirst for adventure led Alexander from Tire further east.
Having created a huge empire, the great conqueror died either from swamp fever, or from a severe form of a hangover, or from poisoning. After his death, his empire fell apart. Phoenicia was ruled by one of the commanders of Alexander the Great - Seleucus. By this time, the Greeks made up a significant part of the population of Phenicia. They brought technological progress with them, succeeded in building roads, laying reliable water pipes, and introduced a single monetary system. In a word, they planted a civilization here. The Greek language spread throughout the world. And who knows, Christianity would have gone beyond Judea, it would have become a world religion without the mediating mission of the Greek language, without the bloody conquests of Alexander III, better known as Alexander the Great.

In the photo, the Sidon fortress, which in the past protected the city port, was built in the 13th century. Crusaders as a fortress on an island that is connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. The fortress was repeatedly destroyed by the invaders, and they themselves restored it. Today, a couple of towers, connected by a wall, have been preserved from the castle.

History of Sidon

The ancient city of Sidon is located on the coast. In ancient times, it was a Phoenician city-state, one of the largest in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The exact time of the appearance of Sidon has not yet been established. According to the generally accepted point of view, it appeared, apparently, in the 4th millennium BC. e. This ancient city of Phoenicia was located in a seaside valley less than 2 km wide.

In the 2nd millennium BC. e. it was a major center of international trade. To defend his right to this, Sidon waged a stubborn struggle, including an armed one, with his neighbor, the city of Tyre, for the leading position in the politics and trade of Phoenicia.

At the end of the 2nd - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. Sidon took an active part in the Phoenician colonization of the Western Mediterranean.

It became the metropolis of many colonies, and its ships, as Herodotus noted, were known for their speed. Like all major Phoenician cities, Sidon was ruled by royal dynasties. Built partly on the mainland and partly on small islands, the city had two excellent harbors - in the north and in the south.

At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. the influence and power of the city weakened, and he fell under the rule of Tyre. This was the beginning of the slow decline of Sidon.

In 701 BC. e. he was captured by the army of Assyria. The rulers of Assyria appointed their governors to the city, but the Sidonians, accustomed to freedom for many centuries of independence, repeatedly raised anti-Assyrian uprisings. When the patience of the king of Assyria ended, in 677 BC. e. he ordered the destruction of Sidon.

However, Sidon did not give up and was rebuilt, although little was left of its former splendor and grandeur, and now it was destined to become an ordinary port city. From those times, the remains of the temple of Eshmun, the Phoenician god and patron of Sidon, have been preserved.

In the second half of the VI century. BC e. Sidon was forcibly attached to the power of the Achaemenids, and its kings became vassals paying tribute to the Persian rulers. It is known that the Phoenician dynasty of the Sidonian kings enjoyed special respect at the Persian court. But ordinary Sidonians repeatedly staged riots against the Persians. While in 342 or 351 BC. e. both of its harbors and strong coastal fortifications were not destroyed by order of the Persian king Artaxerxes III, after which the city became easily accessible to the enemy.

But, since some of its moorings remained intact, the city was again restored by unions of merchants and seafarers. And in ancient times, Sidon remained a noisy trading port. In the IV century. BC e. he began to intensively develop relations with Athens, and later - with the power of Alexander the Great. A prominent military leader almost rebuilt Sidon and held the Olympic Games in it. Then the supreme power over Sidon successively belonged to the Ptolemies and the Seleucids.

During the Roman era, the Hellenization of Sidon continued, and the city's economy was based on the manufacture of ivory carvings, gold and silver jewelry, multi-colored glassware, the manufacture of purple dye and purple cloth.

At the time of Jesus, most of the inhabitants of Sidon were Greeks.

An earthquake in 501 caused the heaviest damage to the well-being of the city. In 637, Sidon surrendered to the Arabs without resistance. Subsequently, he took a lot of things from the crusaders, who robbed him constantly. After themselves, they left a fortress of two towers on the island and the ruins of the castle of Saint-Louis.

Today Sidon is the third largest city in Lebanon, it is called Saida and is located to the west of ancient city where the ruins do not interfere with the construction of new houses.

In our time, little reminds of the past greatness of the Phoenician cities, and the current Sidon and Tire are relatively small cities of fishermen. After thousands of years, the sea swallowed up the dams, jetties and embankments. Today they are studied by underwater archaeologists.

History of Tyr

Under King Hiram, a contemporary of the legendary King Solomon, Tire became the capital of a vast empire. Its colonies were scattered throughout the Mediterranean.

The city of Tire is now called Sur. It is the fourth largest city in Lebanon (after Sidon-Saida) and one of the country's main ports. The city's economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism. Among the local attractions is the ancient Roman hippodrome, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. At the same time, El Rashidiya is located here: one of the largest Palestinian refugee camps for 20 thousand people.

The coast of Thira is included in the nature reserve: here is the most important nesting place for migratory birds, as well as a place where offspring of sea turtles - green and loggerhead, live, a dwarf bat lives and a rare flower of sea pancras grows.

Tire is an ancient Phoenician city-state on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, located relatively close to Sidon-Saida. The historical fate of Tire is in many ways similar to the fate of Sidon.

Presumably, it arose, like Sidon, in the 4th millennium BC. e. The main buildings were located on the island, only the suburbs and cemeteries remained on the mainland. In the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. it was an important craft and trade center.

At the end of the 2nd - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. natives of Tire became famous as skillful and brave seafarers. They founded numerous colonies on the islands of the Mediterranean Sea, in particular in Cyprus and Sicily. But their main colony was in North Africa and was called Carthage, there was also a settlement of Lyke on the Atlantic coast of Africa. Tire also had colonies in present-day Spain, for example, Gades (Cadiz) to the west of the Strait of Gibraltar. The glory of Tyre gradually eclipsed the glory of Sidon. In the X century. BC e. Under King Hiram, a contemporary of the legendary King Solomon, Tire became the capital of a vast maritime power.

Tire has always been not only a neighbor, but also the main rival of Sidon.

"It is richer in fish than in sand," said an ancient Egyptian papyrus about Tyre. The biblical prophet Ezekiel noted the strength and luxury of his ships.

From the 8th century BC e. Tire was under the rule of Assyria and remained in vassal dependence on it until the beginning of the VI century. BC e., when it was captured by the Neo-Babylonian kingdom. At that time, part of the Assyrian territories separated from Assyria, then contributed to its fall and division along with Tyre.

From the second half of the VI century. Tire is part of the Achaemenid state, being there during the conquests of the kings of Ancient Persia. Despite this, navigation and trade flourish in Phoenicia, and Tire is still the "sea gate" of the Ancient East.

In 332 BC. e. Tire was taken and destroyed by Alexander the Great. But still, Tire rose from the ruins and, as the ancient geographer Strabo wrote, "returned again, thanks to navigation, in which the Phoenicians always surpassed other peoples."

In 64 BC. e. Roman legions landed in Tyre, and it became part of the province of Syria.

The port facilities of Tire amazed contemporaries. Underwater archaeological studies have shown that the first ancient pier went into the sea for 200 m, the width of the pier was 8 m. The second, even larger pier, 750 m long, was found even deeper. A passage for ships was left in the middle of the pier. Under water, fortifications were found on each of the two breakwaters, as well as two dams 100 m long.

When Phoenicia fell into decay, no one began to repair all these capital structures. Port buildings went under water, dams, harbors, breakwaters, even the embankments of ancient Tire were at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.

general information

Location : southwestern Lebanon.

Administrative affiliation : Sidon - Saida region, Tire - Sur region, South Lebanon governorate.

Founded: around 4th millennium BC e.

Language: Arabic, Armenian, Greek.

Ethnic composition : Arabs, Armenians, Greeks.

Religions: Islam - 90%, including Shiism 50%, Sunnism 40%; Alavism, the Druze religion; Christianity - about 10%, including Catholicism (Maronites) and Orthodoxy.

Currency unit : Lebanese pound.

Rivers: Sidon - Avali and Sainik.

The airport: them. Rafik Hariri-Beirut (international).

Numbers

Square: Sidon - 7.86 km 2, Tire - 17 km 2.

Population: Sidon - 57,800 people, Tire - about 90,000 people. (2008).

Population density : Sidon - 7353.9 people / km 2, Tire - 5294 people / km 2 (2008).

Average height above sea level : Sidon - 22 m, Tire - 10 m.

Remoteness: Sidon - 40 km. south of Beirut, 35 km north of Tire (40 km by road), Tire - 75 km south of Beirut.

Climate and weather

Subtropical, Mediterranean.

Mild and rainy winters, hot and dry summers.

January average temperature : -14°C.

July average temperature : +27°С.

Average annual rainfall : 820 mm.

Average annual relative humidity : 70%.

Economy

Fishing.

Services sector: tourist, transport, trade.

sights

Sidon

The ruins of the Phoenician temples of Eshmun (7th century BC) and Melqart (7th century BC)

Temple and throne of Astarte (3rd century BC)

Synagogue (833)

Sidon Sea Castle (XIII century)

Castle of Saint-Louis (XIII century)

Khan el Frange (French caravanserai, 17th century)

Ottoman Debani Palace (1721)

British War Cemetery (1943)

Soap Museum (2000)

Tyr

The ruins of the Phoenician temple of Melqart (XXVIII century BC)

Triumphal arch (332 BC, reconstruction)

The archaeological complex of the excavations of al-Mina - the ruins of ancient Roman buildings of the II-III centuries. (theatre, agora square, palestra (gymnastics school), baths, necropolis, hippodrome)

Ruins of the Church of the Holy Cross (XII century)

Thira Coast Nature Reserve (1998)

Phoenician springs of Ras al-Ain

Curious facts

The city's name comes from a Phoenician word meaning "fishing". The Arabic "saida" means the same.

In ancient times, the name Sidon was often applied by both foreign and local sailors to the entire Phoenician coast of the Eastern Mediterranean. This was due to the importance of the then Sidon.

There is a legend that during an unsuccessful uprising against the Persians in 342 or 351 BC. e. 40 thousand inhabitants of Sidon burned themselves together with property in their homes, so as not to fall into the hands of the victors and not be subjected to a painful execution. It could be quite probable historical fact: in ancient times, the area of the city was much larger, and up to 100 thousand people lived in it.

Sidon is repeatedly mentioned in biblical sources. Joshua calls the city the great Sidon (Joshua 11:8; 19:28). In the blessing of Jacob, it is called the border of the settlement of the tribe of Zebulun (Gen. 49:13). The Bible says that Sidon, when the land was divided, was assigned to the tribe of Asher (Josh. 19:28), which, however, never took possession of it (Judges 1:31). Jesus came to the borders of Sidon (Mt. 15:21; Mk. 7:24), and the inhabitants of this city came to him to receive help from Him (Mk. 3:8; Lk. 6:17; Mt. 11: 22 ). On his way to Rome, Paul found a Christian church here (Acts 27:3).

The Israelites, while conquering Canaan, failed to take Sidon. Zion's steadfastness angered the Israelites, who considered the Sidonians enemies of Israel and its faith. For this reason, the Old Testament prophets more than once foreshadowed the coming judgment on Sidon, "mired" in luxury and vice (Jer. 27:3ff; Joel 3:4ff; Ezek. 28:21ff.). The sad fate of Sidon is perceived by the Israelites as the fulfillment of ancient predictions.

The ancient Greek poet Homer in his poems wrote about "copper-rich Sidon" and "skillful Sidonians". Copper was not mined in Sidon, it was brought there for glass production: copper oxide is used in the production of glass and giving it a green and blue color, as well as in the production of copper-ruby glass.

Sidon has long been the first among the Phoenician cities in what is today South Lebanon. There is an assumption that Tire was founded by a group of Sidonians who were dissatisfied with the "ruling regime". For a long time, Sidon did not pay attention to the rapidly growing competitor, until about 1200 BC. e. was not surpassed by Tyre. The Bible reports that Tire bypassed Sidon so much that Sidon's lumberjacks and sailors were in its service (3 Chr. 5:6; Ezek. 27:8).

Unlike Sidon and other Phoenician cities, Tire did not want to surrender to the mercy of the conqueror of the Persians - Alexander the Great. No wonder: before that, no one had been able to take this fortress city, located on the island, by storm. At first, Alexander the Great did not succeed either. And then the commander, accustomed to solving any problem on a grand scale, decided: if the troops cannot take the island-fortress, then it is necessary to make sure that it ceases to be an island. By order of the emperor, a mound was built across the strait separating Tire from the mainland in seven months: it has survived to this day. The city fell, was destroyed and plundered, and the people who survived the assault and wild massacre were sold into slavery.

The Biblical prophet Ezekiel, referring to Tire, says this about his ships: “From the Senir cypresses they made all your platforms; they took cedar from Lebanon to make masts on you; from the oaks of Bashan they made your oars; your benches were made of beech wood, with a frame of ivory from the Kittim Islands; patterned canvases from Egypt were used on your sails and served as a flag; blue and purple fabrics from the islands of Elis were your covering ”(The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, ch. 27, 5-7).

In 53 BC. e. Tire fell under the rule of Rome. Cleopatra asked Mark Antony to transfer the city to her, but he refused, since Tire had the status of a free city.

Ancient Thira (Thera) - ancient city, located on a steep rocky cape Mesa Vouno, at an altitude of 396 m above sea level. The city got its name in honor of the mythical ruler of the island of Tiras and was inhabited by the Dorians since the 9th century BC. and existed until 726 AD.

The ruins of the ancient city were discovered in 1895 by the German archaeologist Friedrich von Hiller. Systematic excavations were carried out here until 1904 and most of the residential buildings and the cemetery of ancient Thira were discovered. Again, excavations resumed under the auspices of the Archaeological Society of Athens between 1961 and 1982. Then an ancient necropolis was discovered on the slopes of Sellada.

Most of the ruins of the ancient city belong to the Hellenistic era, but there are also remains of Roman and Byzantine buildings. Of the most important architectural monuments discovered during excavations, it is worth highlighting the ancient Agora, which was located almost in the center of the city. Temples and public buildings were concentrated here. In the southwestern part of the Agora is the Royal Gallery in the Doric style, built during the reign of Julius Caesar (1st century AD). The temple of Artemis, carved right into the rock (end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd century BC), is also impressive. Various inscriptions and symbols of the gods are carved on the rock (the eagle of Zeus, the lion of Apollo and the dolphins of Poseidon). Also on the territory of the ancient city were discovered the temple of Dionysius (3rd century BC) and the sanctuary of Apollo (6th century BC). Of particular interest is the ancient theater built during the Ptolemaic dynasty (3rd century BC). Initially, the theater had an orchestra pit, due to which, during its reconstruction in the 1st century AD, the stage was enlarged. Notable are such ancient buildings as the Roman baths, the Byzantine walls, the Church of St. Stephen (built on the ruins of the early Christian church of St. Michael the Archangel) and the Ancient Necropolis.

Archaeological excavations of the ancient settlement were of great historical significance. In addition to beautiful architectural structures, many valuable artifacts were also found that perfectly illustrate the life of the ancient city in its various aspects. Today, the territory of Ancient Tyra is open to the public. After seeing the architectural sights, you can also admire the beautiful panoramic views that open from the top of the cliff.

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