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All Lebanon Beirut

The Atlas Obscura Guide To Beirut

3 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Beirut, Lebanon

Updated September 8, 2022

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Unusual Attractions in Beirut

 Al Ba’sa, or The Grudge, Beirut’s thinnest building.

Beirut, Lebanon

The Grudge (Al Ba’sa)

Beirut's thinnest building was the result of feuding brothers.
The Egg seen from the northeast corner, showing the peculiar round shape of the theater.

Beirut, Lebanon

The Egg

This modernist cinema has survived war and reconstruction to become a symbol of Lebanon’s revolutionary spirit.
Yasmine, the first mummy discovered in the ‘Asi-al-Hadath grotto.

Beirut, Lebanon

Maronite Mummies of the Qadisha Valley

Mummies preserved naturally for seven centuries.
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Stele of Napoleon III overwritten on Assyrian stele

Nahr El Kalb, Lebanon

Stelae of Nahr el-Kalb

In a narrow river valley just north of Beirut, Lebanon, is a chronicle of human history unlike anything else in the world.
8 miles from Beirut
The animatronic former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf. (Leah Caldwell/Atlas Obscura)

Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon

Lebanese "Hall of Fame" Museum

Brush shoulders with animatronic Arab leaders made of silicone.
9 miles from Beirut
Upper Cave

Jitta, Lebanon

Jeita Grotto

A monumental underground karstic wonderland is also the water source for over a million citizens of Beirut.
10 miles from Beirut
View of the Cable Car from below (Wikimedia Commons)

Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon

Jounieh Cable Car

An intimate look into the apartments of Jounieh via cable car.
11 miles from Beirut
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Recent Beirut Activity

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    wants to go to The Grudge (Al Ba’sa)

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Stories About Beirut

These glass vessels survived for more than 1,500 years before being shattered in the 2020 Beirut explosion. An international team of museum conservators carefully pieced them back together.

Saving the Ancient Glass Artifacts Shattered in the Beirut Explosion

These centuries-old vessels now have new stories to tell.
by Line Sidonie Talla Mafotsing
September 8, 2022
The unfinished Beirut City Center Complex, known locally as the Egg, in December 2019.

How an Abandoned Modernist Cinema Became a Revolutionary Symbol in Lebanon

The Beirut Egg is riddled with bullet holes and covered in graffiti. Protesters recently reclaimed it.
by Justin Higginbottom
February 26, 2020
Recent comics and graphic zines from Beirut.

War, Romance, and Everyday Life in Beirut's Emerging Alt-Comix Scene

A generation of creators is carrying on the Arab world's history of expression and frustration.
by Jonathan Guyer
September 9, 2019

The Middle East as Old Hollywood Saw It

Come to this Beirut poster shop for the lurid stereotypes, stay for the giant killer crab.
by Pesha Magid
August 12, 2019
A falafel stand in Gaza.

Around the Middle East in Hummus and Falafel

A new book is an ode to chickpeas and the people that love them.
by Olivia Snaije
July 26, 2019

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