page_title: Anjar, Lebanon
section_title: Anjar antiquities
hierarchical_section_title: Anjar, Lebanon / Anjar antiquities
caption_attribution_description: English: The Umayyad city of Anjar, seen from the Great Palace. Français&#160;: La ville omeyyade d'Anjar, vue du Grand Palais.
context_page_description: Anjar, is a town of Lebanon located in the Bekaa Valley. The population is 2,400, consisting almost entirely of Armenians. The total area is about twenty square kilometers (7.7 square miles). In the summer, the population swells to 3,500, as members of the Armenian diaspora return to visit there. In the ancient world, it was known as Chalkis.
context_section_description: Formerly known as Gerrha, a stronghold built by Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid ibn Abdel Malek in the 8th century, the site was later abandoned, leaving a number of well-preserved ruins. The present-day name derives from Arabic Ayn Gerrha, or "source of Gerrha".  The exclusively Umayyad ruins have been recognized as a World Heritage Site.
  The city ruins cover 114,000 square meters and are surrounded by large, fortified stone walls over two meters thick and seven meters high. The rectangular city design of 370 m by 310 m is based on Roman city planning and architecture with stonework borrowed from the Byzantines. Two large avenues, the Cardo maximum, running north to south, and the Decumanus Maximus, running east to west, divide the city into four quadrants. The two main avenues, decorated with colonnades and flanked by about 600 shops, intersect under
  a tetrapylon. The plinths, shafts and capitals of the tetrapylon are spolia reused in the Umayyad period. Smaller streets subdivide the western half of the city in quarters of different size. 
  Main monuments:
  The partially rebuilt Grand Palace, 59 m by 70 m, includes a wall and is preceded by a series of arcades. Its central hosh (courtyard) is  surrounded by a peristyle.
  The almost square Small Palace, 46 m by 47 m, stands out for its numerous ornamental fragments and its richly decorated central entrance.
  A Mosque, 45 m by 32 m, is located between the two palaces.
  Thermal baths, built on the Roman model.
  The numerous fragments of friezes with plant, figurative and geometric motifs are proving of once rich decorated buildings.
caption: Ruins of Umayyad palace
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