Tyre

Tyre City

Tyre was a famous ancient Phoenician city and also the name of the god of war in Norse mythology. The ancient city of Tyre is located about 80 kilometers south of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1984 under the cultural heritage selection criteria. The World Heritage Committee described it as: “Tyre is said to be the birthplace of the purple dye. It was the most magnificent of the Phoenician cities, dominating the seas and establishing prosperous colonies such as Cadiz and Carthage.

Its historical prominence gradually declined after the Eastern invasions, but it still retains many significant archaeological remains, mainly from the Roman period.” Tyre was founded at the beginning of 3000 BC, initially consisting of a mainland settlement and a moderately sized island city not far offshore. However, it was not until around 1000 BC that the city reached its peak. In the 10th century BC, King Hiram of Tyre connected the two islands through land reclamation, and later used the same method to create substantial new land in the vast sea.