The Phoenician cities of the southern coast were maritime powers when Rome was a village. Tyre founded Carthage around 814 BCE and Cadiz earlier than that; Sidon was the older of the two and the centre of glassmaking. Both produced the purple dye extracted from murex shells that gave the Phoenicians their Greek name and coloured imperial robes for a thousand years.
Tyre
Tyre, Sour in Arabic, was an island fortress until Alexander built a causeway to besiege it in 332 BCE, and that causeway silted up into the peninsula the town now occupies. Two archaeological areas are open: Al Bass, with a Roman necropolis of carved sarcophagi, a triumphal arch and the largest surviving Roman hippodrome anywhere, 480 m long and seating 20,000; and the city site on the peninsula with colonnaded streets, baths and a Crusader cathedral. Both are UNESCO listed. The old harbour still has fishing boats and good seafood, and the beaches south of the town are among the best in Lebanon.
Sidon
Sidon, Saida, is 45 km from Beirut and easier to reach. The Sea Castle was built by crusaders in 1228 on a small island connected by a causeway, using Roman columns laid horizontally through the walls as reinforcement. Behind it, the old souk is a covered medieval market still selling to residents rather than visitors, and the Khan el-Franj, a seventeenth-century caravanserai, has been restored around its courtyard. The Soap Museum in a former factory explains the olive oil soap trade.
The Temple of Eshmun
Two kilometres north of Sidon, the only substantially preserved Phoenician temple site in the country, dedicated to the god of healing and built from the seventh century BCE onwards, with Roman additions, water channels and a throne of Astarte.
Practicalities
Sidon is an hour from Beirut and Tyre two hours, both on the coastal road, with frequent shared minibuses. The south of Lebanon has periodically been affected by conflict with Israel and access can change quickly; check the current situation before travelling and expect army checkpoints. When the situation is calm, both cities are relaxed and receive very few foreign visitors.
The purple
Tyrian purple was extracted from the glands of murex sea snails, thousands of them for a single garment, and the mounds of crushed shells outside both cities were still visible in antiquity. The dye did not fade but deepened with sunlight, which is why it commanded prices that made it a royal monopoly for centuries.