Sidon , nowadays Saïda (صيدا), Saidoon of the Phéniciens, Sagette or Sagathy during the Crusades, (name given by the Frank ).

Saïda, Sidon of the Bible, is the third city in importance of the Lebanon. It conceals a long, rich and mysterious history and crossed the centuries with various destinies in contact with the Phéniciens, Assyrian , Perses, Croisés, Arab , Othoman , French…

History

The Sidon antique would be one of oldest the cities of the coast phenician, rested by the son of Canaan, grandson of Noah.

She was the capital of the kingdom cananéen around With Tyr and Byblos, its rivals, she developed the maritime trade and was one of the most important ports of the Eastern Mediterranean around, before its probable devastation by the People of the Sea and the hegemony of Tyr around Her was then subjected to the powers of the Middle East. Tributary of the Assyrie, being revolted, Assarhaddon destroyed it in 677 av. J. - C.. The city was rebuilt by the Babylonians, and was taken again by the Perses towards 540 av. J. - C.. At the time of the medic Wars, it provides naval quotas to the Bataille of Salamine, and in 351 av. J. - C., it was burned after a rising against Persia. Weakened, it went without fight to Alexandre Large the, in 333 av. J. - C.. Sidon knew a new prosperity at the 16th century and 17th century, until Beirut the détrône.

In 551, Sidon will live a violent one seism. Old évêché, the city is rather modest and without much importance when it is taken by the Arab into 637. It will be finally taken in 1110 by the Croisés of Baudoin, king of Jerusalem, with the assistance of the Norwegian fleet. Its blockade will last 47 days. Baudoin then gives it to the one its faithful barons, Eustace de Grenier, titrating it count de Sidon and of Césarée. Itself and its descendants will reign until 1260 on the city and its surroundings.

Sidon will become chief town of the seigniory of Sagette, including the castle of Beaufort in south-west, second of the four baronnies of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Begun again to the count Renaud de Grenier by Saladin in 1187, its ramparts will be shaven. Invaded by the Arabs, returned to Attic by Saladin before its death, attacked by the Mongols, Sagette will be sold by the count Julien de Grenier with the Templiers. The city will be the refuge of the survivors of the seat of Midsummer's Day d' Acre.

After the departure of the Cross , Sidon will become the port of Damas and will know a relative prosperity. The France will install even a consulate there. However, the expulsion of the French in 1791 will carry a fatal blow to its trade, that whose Beirut will be able to profit. Saïda will become a modest fishing port, and will remain it until our days.

Sidon was famous for its industries of glass and the Pourpre, a dyeing obtained starting from the pigments of the shell of a murex ( Murex trunculus ). Excavations revealed three necropoles principal and one can see there the temple of the god phenician Eshmoun, whose construction goes back to seventh century BC.

Famous places

• Castle of the sea
• Castle of the ground (Castle of Saint-Louis)
• the médina (the medieval city)
• the hill of Murex
• the souk
• Mosques of the medieval time (Large Mosque, Kikhia Mosque,…)
• the Museum of the soap
• Khân el-Franj " the house of Français" (old consulate of France)
• the TEMPLE Of ESHMOUN… site phenician, single in Lebanon

Transport

• 43 km of Beirut, connected by the highway
• Place of Star: starting point of the connections of coaches towards Beirut, Tyr…

Today

Several Confession S is côtoient in Saïda: Moslem Sunnites, Shiite, Christian Maronites and until the years 1980, one found there Jewish Lebanese… the city counts some 200.000 inhabitants (2000). It became the shopping mall and financier of the Southern Lebanon. Saïda is the native city of the former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, assassinated in Beirut the February 14th 2005 in an car bomb attack.

Twinnings

External bonds

• Town of Sidon
• Town of Sidon

Simple: Sidon