Temple d’Echmoun

It takes a visit to the national museum to comprehend the significance of the temple of Eshmun. The number and quality of exponents found at this temple almost matches the one’s from Tyre ore Byblos. Look out for the baby statues. They are amazing.

The temple is easy to reach, close to Sidon and the coastal highway. There is a small parking lot and entrance is free. No information at all is available on site, so you need to read up first. You can wander around freely and explore, but this is done pretty fast as the whole premise is rather small.

I personally think the temple would make a worthy entry on the list. It’s a Phoenician temple, dedicated to the god of healing and Phoenician sites (at least with clear focus on Phoenician) are not exactly overrepresented. It still has some features to admire, such as the Throne of Astarte and some mosaics. Unfortunately, they started the construction of an ugly building on the hill in the back of the temple, destroying a bit the view. Also it doesn’t seem to much conservation work is going on. I really hope this changes in future.