City of the Sun

Baalbek, Lebanon, which used to be known as Heliopolis (City of the Sun), is one of the most important ancient Roman sites in the Middle East. It's said that more than 100,000 slaves worked on the huge monuments over the centuries, and the place was a "host to sacred prostitution along with all manner of licentious bloodthirsty forms of worship," though you won't read much about these practices in the free brochure or at the site's museum. I had a great couple of days in Baalbek. It was much cooler there than in Beirut and Tripoli, and the large room with a view of the ruins happened to be available at the Shouman Hotel. Also, in the morning when I bought my ticket to visit the site, the ticket seller agreed to let me return in the evening, so I was able to explore the site during the two best times of day.