Sidon

Sidon stretches along a bay in southern Lebanon, roughly forty kilometers from Beirut, with two natural harbors and wide waterfront roads. The old town sits behind the shoreline, where limestone buildings, Crusader ruins, and Ottoman caravanserais crowd into narrow lanes.

The settlement arose in the third millennium before Christ as a Phoenician trading post and grew into an important center for purple dye and glassmaking. It was later ruled in turn by Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Crusaders, each leaving architectural traces behind.

The name derives from the Phoenician word for fishing, and fishermen still work from the old harbor in their painted wooden boats today. The souks around Khan el-Franj draw locals who shop for fresh fruit, spices, and handmade soap.

The center is easy to walk through, with a stroll from the harbor through the souks to the Sea Castle taking roughly twenty minutes. Mornings and late afternoons bring cooler temperatures and fewer crowds in the narrow lanes.

Below the city lie several underground tunnels once used for defense and trade, now partly accessible to visitors. In places, these passages run directly beneath inhabited houses and connect old cisterns to one another.