World Heritage Identification Number: 299
World Heritage since: 1984
Category: Cultural Heritage
WHE Type: Archaeological Sites
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇱🇧 Lebanon
Continent: Asia
UNESCO World Region: Arab States
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Tyre: An Ancient Phoenician City of Ruins Built Out of Ruins
Tyre, officially known as Sur, is a city located on the Mediterranean coast of southern Lebanon. One of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, Tyre holds significant historical, cultural, and archaeological importance, earning it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1984.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
According to legend, purple dye was invented in Tyre. This great Phoenician city ruled the seas and founded prosperous colonies such as Cadiz and Carthage, but its historical role declined at the end of the Crusades. There are important archaeological remains, mainly from Roman times.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (iii): Metropolis of Phoenicia in past times, sung about for its great beauty, Tyre rapidly became the most important centre for maritime and land commerce in the eastern Mediterranean. The Phoenician remains reflect the power, influence and wealth of the merchants of Tyre who navigated the Mediterranean waters and filled their warehouses with goods from their extensive colonies all around the Mediterranean coasts.
Criterion (vi): Tyre is associated with the important stages of humanity. Astute navigators and merchants, the Phoenicians were reputed to have given birth to the great figures of mythology including Cadmos, credited for the introduction of the alphabet to Greece and his sister, Europe, who gave her name to the European continent.
Encyclopedia Record: Tyre, Lebanon
Tyre is a city in Lebanon, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It was one of the earliest Phoenician metropolises and the legendary birthplace of Europa, her brothers Cadmus and Phoenix, and Carthage's founder Dido (Elissa). The city has many ancient sites, including the Tyre Hippodrome, and was added as a whole to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1984. The historian Ernest Renan described it as "a city of ruins, built out of ruins".Additional Site Details
Area: 153.8 hectares
Number of Components: 1
(vi) — Directly associated with events or living traditions
Coordinates: 33.2691666667 , 35.1958333333
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© RomanDeckert, CC BY-SA 4.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
