Day 1 : Beirut
Arrival into Beirut airport where you will be met by a Travel The Unknown representative. Transfer to hotel in Beirut's popular Hamra quarter. Overnight in Beirut.
Meal plan: n/a
Beirut's history goes back more than 5,000 years. Its antiquity is indicated by its name, derived from the Canaanite be'erot ("wells"). These wells refer to an underground water table still tapped by the local inhabitants. Historically occupied by the Romans, the Crusaders and the Ottomans, among other ruling dynasties, Beirut’s art and architecture is layered with multiple and diverse influences. Lying at an historical crossroads, excavations in Beirut’s downtown area have unearthed layers of Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Crusader and Ottoman remains. The first historical reference to Beirut dates from the 14th century BC, when it is mentioned in the cuneiform tablets of the Amarna letters, three letters that Ammunira of Biruta (Beirut) sent to the pharaoh of Egypt. Biruta is also referenced in the letters from Rib-Hadda, king of Byblos. The city was known in the Roman period as Berytus. Weaknesses in Roman Byzantine rule did not go unnoticed by the emergent Ummayad Arabs to the south, who in the 8th century ruled from Damascus. In 1110 the coast, including Beirut, fell to the Crusaders. In 1291 it was conquered by the Mamlukes. Ottoman rule began in 1516 and lasted for 400 years until the defeat of the Turks in World War I. The French Mandate Period followed and in 1943 Lebanon gained its independence. Beirut's history of dynastic successions is quite remarkable. Set between the Mediterranean and dramatic mountains rising up in the background, modern, secular Beirut is also one of the Middle East’s liveliest cities.
