Tripoli - the northern capital of Lebanon, the second largest city in the country, completely different from Beirut - modern and newly tuned .The historical part of Tripoli has preserved the ancient atmosphere of the Arab city with its eastern bazaars, hammams, soap bars, mosques, madrasahs and caravan-sheds .On a high hill of Tripoli, a powerful fortress rises, and a muddy river divides the city into parts .In ancient times here was a center consisting of 3 cities - Tire, Sidon and Arvada, hence the name Tripoli, which is translated from Greek as a "triple city" .

Whoever has not conquered the city for all its centuries-old history: Persians, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamelukes and Turks, and of course, each aspired to leave a mark on the architecture of the city, variegated by the variety of styles, and in its culture .So here you can find a mosque rebuilt from the church, a chapel given by the Mamlukes, and many more such incredibly strange sights .It is worth noting that Tripoli to all else is a city framed by orange groves, filling it with a wonderful fragrance of flowers and fruits - especially from May to July .

How to call

+ 961-6-phone number when calling from a mobile phone and 8-10-961-9-subscriber's number when calling from a landline. And do not forget that time in Lebanon lags behind Moscow by 1 hour.

How to get

For all residents of Russia there is only one point of departure to Lebanon by air - the favorite capital. From Moscow flights to Beirut fly every day, the flight usually lasts 4 hours, and the ticket costs from 15 thousand rubles.

From Beirut, you can get to Tripoli by using public transport or by car that can be hired. Beirut Tripoli buses depart every 15-20 minutes from 7 am to 8 pm from the Charles Helue station bus station. The ticket price is about 1500-2000 LL (1 $) one way. For 1, 5 hours you will reach Tripoli by express train, in 2 hours - by regular bus stopping in Jounieh, Byblos and Batrun.

Entertainment, sightseeing and sightseeing

You should go to Tripoli, if you want to fully experience the taste of eastern life, feel the aroma of home-made Arab food, enjoy the famous Lebanese sweets right on the street, stroll through the noisy day and mysteriously deserted night market, drink a delicious orange fresh. ±​​$ br >

Of course, the main attraction of Tripoli is the atmosphere of this eastern city. Here everything is bright and unusual: women dressed in scarves and hijabs walk around, men in the courtyards play cards, smoke hookahs and drink coffee, children run in the labyrinths of the streets, from the depths of which the Arabian music is heard. There is no such thing as downtown in Tripoli, so the city has two centers - new and old.

Ancient fortresses, mosques, madrassas and hammams fit organically into the modern entourage, and next to the ancient buildings are modern high-rise buildings. Here you seem to be in touch with another world, transferred to an eastern fairy tale, which I heard once in my childhood.

Citadel of Saint-Gill

Built on the bank of the river Nahr-Abu-Ali on a rock in the very center of the old part of the city in the XII century. In the XIX century it was restored and to this day this fortress looks amazingly well-groomed and renovated.

The powerful walls of this majestic fortress contain memories of the era of the Crusades and the valiant French knight Raymone Saint Gilles of the Count of Toulouse, the era of Egyptian campaigns and conquests and times of formidable Mamluks, of wars with the Ottoman Empire.

Walking on the walls of the fortress here you can enjoy a gorgeous view of the whole city and be pleased to be photographed, look out into small windows with guns and admire the sunset, sitting on endless staircases with high stairs.

Great Mosque Al-Jammah Al-Kabir

The mosque was built on the site of the church of St. Mary, destroyed by the Mamluks .This cathedral was built by the Crusaders in the XII century .In the mosque you can get absolutely free of charge, although women will need to put on their closed clothes - near the central entrance you can get the cloaks provided for this purpose with hoods .Tourists may not be allowed inside during the prayer, after all you are in a rather conservative city .This mosque is famous and attractive with its external and internal decoration using a multicolored marble .

In addition to the Great Mosque in the old part of the city, there are about 40 other historical architectural monuments: churches, El Mina District, Palm Islands, Sahat-at-Tel (Holm Square), Koranic schools of madrassas, hammams, the most famous of which are Hammam Al Nouri, Hammam Al-Abd and Hammam Izz Ad-Din, Clock tower in the square at-Tall and the oldest Al-Maschiye park and numerous fountains.

Oriental Bazaar

Travel to Tripoli can not be considered successful if you avoid the obligatory attribute of the fabulous eastern city of a huge oriental bazaar, the market "bitches", as it is called here. Most of the market is occupied by sweet rows, gold rows and rows with national clothes, fabrics, dishes, leather, copper and bronze products, oriental spices.

Your scent, catching a wonderful floral fragrance, surely will bring you to soap. Soap here brew for centuries, passing the secret of craft from generation to generation only to family members. You can find soap from all ailments - ancient recipes with medicinal herbs and aroma oils really have medicinal properties.

The whole market sells shawarma, fry bread and meat with spices in tandoor, and the boys offer freshly squeezed tangerine and orange juice. So you will leave from here not only with full bags, but with full bellies.

Final chord

In the evening, after visiting the market, stroll along the promenade of Al-Mina. Here you can book a boat trip to one of the nearest islands. On the largest of them, the Palm Island, is a national reserve, densely populated with green turtles and exotic birds.

To finish the wonderful day spent in the eastern fairy tale is best in one of the small oriental cafes, slowly sipping the famous Arab coffee, fairly flavored with cardamom, and tasting traditional local desserts of baclava and makhlohut.

We bet that this is either a vacation, or a wonderful dream will come to life again in your memories on long winter evenings, and the fairy-tale city will wait and beckon you again.

All prices are in June 2013