Megan with Jodie, on the walkway leading to the Sea Castle.
We just can't help ourselves. Whenever we see an old ruin, we have an urge to stop, pull out the camera, and take a picture. Saida was a case in point.
The town, which is also spelled Sidon, is a short drive south of Beirut, maybe thirty minutes if the traffic is clear. It's an ancient Phoenician city-state with an important medieval history as well. The souk in town is one of the most interesting in Lebanon.
A view of Saida from the Sea Castle's wall.
But the most noticeable attraction in Saida is the famous Sea Castle. Built by the crusaders in 1228, the Sea Castle sits at the end of a walkway, jutting out from the heart of town maybe fifty yards into the sea. The crusaders built their castle on top of the one built by the Arabs, who built it on top of the one built by the Byzantines, who improved the one built by the Romans, etc, etc.
The Crusaders reused a lot of the material left over from Roman and Byzantine forts. Above and below you can see Roman columns used on the side of the Sea Castle's wall.
There are a few striking things about Sidai's Sea Castle. While the castle is beautiful, it's surrounded by trash and an industrial shipping area. Dumping trash into the sea is actually a major problem for the people living in Saida; they've made appeals to the central government in Beirut for help in dealing with waste management.
Another view from atop the Sea Castle.
The second striking thing about the Sea Castle is that on a Saturday afternoon (which is when we were there) you see dozens of couples walking around. It seems that the castle is one of the few respectable places in town where you could take a date, and most of these dates seemed like awkward first dates with the occassional display of PDA.
This is a lot of public affection for the standards of the Middle East.
A more awkward date, with the woman casually graffiting this medieval castle. All a part of a typical Saturday at Saida's Sea Castle.
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