We now climb 33 steps to the Temple of
Bacchus and enter a large court with an imposing doorway 40 feet high. Note the slipped keystone which was once propped up by a crude tower of bricks, but has now been properly renovated.
Proceeding through the doorway, we are surrounded by further columns and niches which once housed the pantheon of the gods. At the far end, nothing remains of the beautiful shrine which once stood against this far
wall and housed the statue of the god Bacchus.
The main temple of Baalbek, however,
was reserved for the chief deity himself - Iovi Optimo Maximo Heliopolitano 'Jupiter the Most High, the Most Great'. This is the view of what remains from the staircase we saw earlier. The
destruction of this magnificent temple is thought to have begun with the earthquake of 526 or 551. Curiously, the chronicler Michael the Syrian records the
popular belief that the temple was destroyed by fire from the sky.[3] Historians assume this is a misunderstanding and think that the fire was a consequence of the earthquake.
Following that 6th century earthquake and fire, Byzantine and Arab occupants ravaged the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter, using its stone as building material elsewhere on the acropolis. Further earthquakes, such
as in 1158, 1203, and 1664 increased the devastation.
The last really big quake in 1759 brought down
three columns, leaving only the six that we see here. The Temple was so utterly destroyed that it has never been possible to accurately reconstruct its ground plan, and little can be gleaned from visiting the site.
We do know that 58 columns once graced this Temple, 19 down each side and 10 at each end, enclosing an area twice as large as the Temple of Bacchus. Each column soared to a height of 66
feet, built on a platform which was raised 26 feet higher than the surrounding buildings.
Here was a building which stretched to the limit the ingenuity of man, in
which ancient man literally reached out to the heavens and communicated to the gods. To imagine the pride felt by those who took part in this magnificent achievement, even down to the humblest
workman, is to recognise a greatness that is rarely found in modern society.
However, as magnificent as the Temple of Jupiter certainly was, it stood on a terrace of colossal stones which was, and still is, even more
impressive. If you look carefully at the photograph above you will see me, 6 foot one inch in height, standing on a block which measures approximately 33 by 14 by 10 feet, and weighing an incredible 300 tons.
There are nine such blocks visible in this wall.
Now, it is time to experience the climax of Baalbek...
We now climb 33 steps to the Temple of
Bacchus and enter a large court with an imposing doorway 40 feet high. Note the slipped keystone which was once propped up by a crude tower of bricks, but has now been properly renovated.