Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, the capital of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, is home to two hippodromes, a historic one from the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

era and a modern one that was built in the late 19th century.

Roman Hippodrome of Beirut

The Roman Hippodrome, which occupies 3500 m² near the

Maghen Abraham Synagogue The Maghen Abraham Synagogue ( ar, كنيس ماغين أبراهام - ''Kanīs Mā'ghīn Abrā'hām''; he, בית הכנסת מגן אברהם - ''Beth HaKenesset Magen Avraham'') is one of the main synagogues in Lebanon. Located in the Jewi ...

Wadi Abu Jamil Wadi Abu Jamil is the former Jewish quarter in Beirut, Lebanon, located in the city's central district. History Formally known as ''Wadi al-Yahoud'' (meaning "Valley of the Jews"), the quarter was the center of the Lebanese Jewish community, wi ...

, the historic, Jewish quarter of Beirut, was discovered in 1988. The Roman Hippodrome of Beirut was the second to be discovered in Lebanon after the

Tyre Hippodrome The Tyre Hippodrome is a UNESCO World Heritage site of the city of Tyre in south Lebanon dating back to the Second century CE The Expositio, a description of the world written in the second half of the fourth century by an unknown writer abou ...

, making Lebanon home to two of the five known Roman hippodromes in the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

, the other three being in

Caesarea Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesare ...

in Israel,

Jerash Jerash ( ar, جرش ''Ǧaraš''; grc, Γέρασα ''Gérasa'') is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located north of the capital city ...

in Jordan, and

Bosra Bosra ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ, Buṣrā), also spelled Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra and officially called Busra al-Sham ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ ٱلشَّام, Buṣrā al-Shām), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Dara ...

in Syria. The Roman Hippodrome of Beirut is considered to have been the grandest of the five, having amphitheaters that are several meters high and a race track, which is more than 90 meters long.

Preservation

In 2009, Culture Minister Tamam Salam, had the site listed officially in the general inventory of historic buildings, ruling that it should be preserved ''in situ'' and turned into a tourist landmark. According to an article appearing in the French daily, ''

L'Orient-Le Jour ''L'Orient-Le Jour'' () is a leading French-language daily newspaper in Lebanon. History ''L'Orient-Le Jour'' was first published on 15 June 1971, following the merger of two French language Lebanese dailies, ''L'Orient'' (founded in Beirut in ...

'', Gaby Layoun, the Culture Minister at the time, approved in March 2012 plans for a luxury residential complex to be built over the ruins of Beirut's Roman Hippodrome, bypassing the recommendations of three of his predecessors: Tarek Mitri, Salim Wardé, and Tammam Salam. The three previous Culture Ministers, Mitri, Wardé, and Salam criticized Layoun's move and reiterated the importance of protecting and preserving the archeological site. A march to protest the destruction of the hippodrome took place on March 24, 2012. The

Association for the Protection of the Lebanese Heritage The Association for the Protection of the Lebanese Heritage or APLH is a cultural heritage, non-governmental organization based in Zouk Mosbeh, Keserwan District of Mount Lebanon, Lebanon. The association was originally formed in March 2010 by a ...

(APLH) organized the protest as an attempt to reverse the Culture Ministry's decision to allow the building over the hippodrome. Following the litigation brought by the Association for the Protection of Lebanese Heritage (APLH), the court suspended on May 31, 2012 the Culture Ministry's decision, N˚ 849, to dismantle the Roman Hippodrome that would have allowed for the construction of a building project on the site. The site is protected for now.

Hippodrome du parc de Beyrouth

The current Hippodrome du parc de Beyrouth is a

horse-racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

facility in

's Horsh district adjacent to

Badaro Badaro is a well-known residential neighborhood and business hub in the heart of Beirut. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by the Pierre Gemayel avenue on the north, the Hippodrome on the west, Sami el Solh avenue on the east, Beirut's pine ...

. In 1893, the “al-Marmah” hippodrome was founded, in the town of Bir Hassan. Wealthy Beirutis wished to create a club-complex that included a western style hippodrome and casino. In 1916, the wali of Beirut Azmi Bey, who supported the club project, entrusted its creation to Alfred Sursock, who financed the project. Sursock signed an agreement with the municipality of Beirut for the redevelopment of 600,000 square meters of Beirut pine forest. The project was to include a public causeway, a cinema, a casino, and the hippodrome. The hippodrome was completed in 1921 by Amine and Bahjat Abdelnour while the casino structure became the seat of the French mandate authorities in Lebanon. In the 1960s, the Beirut Hippodrome became one of the busiest race tracks in the world, holding races twice a week, 52 weeks a year. The Israeli army occupied the hippodrome during the Invasion of Lebanon in 1982. The Israeli army entered the hippodrome on August 4. The hippodrome also hosts annual The Garden Show & Spring Festival, which attracts more than 160 exhibitors and over 24,000 international visitors. At the 2012 Garden Show & Spring Festival, the French rose producer, Meilland International, presented to the public the Beirut Rose, which was cultivated in tribute to Lebanon's capital.{{cite web , last=Fleming-Farrell , first=Niamh , url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Lifestyle/2012/May-30/175077-where-roses-are-pink-and-themes-are-green.ashx#ixzz1wVoe9fr1 , title=Where Roses Are Pink and Themes Are Green , website=The Daily Star , date=30 May 2012

In literature

*''Burial in Beirut'' by Orin Parker :"Rob challenged him to a race around the Hippodrome. The historic ruin was large and Rich gave it all he had, his long strides quickly leaving Rob behind."

External links

Official website

References

Sport in Beirut Sports venues in Lebanon Horse racing venues in Lebanon Roman sites in Lebanon Ancient Roman circuses