Hippodrome of Berytus

A graphical showing of the Caesarea hippodrome: probably very similar to the nearby Berytus chariot racecourse

The hippodrome of Berytus was a circus in the Roman colony of Berytus (modern-day Beirut). It is one of two hippodromes in Beirut.

Discovered in 1988 in Wadi Abu Jamil, the historic Jewish quarter of Beirut, close to the Roman port and forum, the hippodrome of Berytus was the second to be discovered in Lebanon after the Tyre Hippodrome.^[1] It was one of the largest in the Levant, occupying an area of 3500 m²,^[1] and was probably similar to the Circus Maximus in Rome. The Expositio—written in the second half of the fourth century by an unknown writer about circuses and circus games in the Roman empire—names the five best racecourses in the Levant as Berytus, Antioch, Laodicea, Caesarea and Tyrus.^[2] The hippodrome of Berytus is considered to have been the grandest of the five, containing amphitheatres that are several meters high and a 90-meter-long race track.^[3]

During the 6th and the 7th centuries, the activities in hippodromes across the Byzantine Empire were banned under the pressure of the Eastern Orthodox Church, so the structure fell in disrepair and later, under Arab rule, its stones were reused for the construction of other buildings.

Preservation

In 2009 the site was officially listed in the general inventory of historic buildings, and the Culture Minister Tamam Salam ruled that it should be preserved in situ and turned into a tourist landmark.^[3]

According to an article appearing in the French daily, L’Orient le Jour, 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.^[4][5] The Association for the Protection of the Lebanese Heritage (APLH) organized protests as an attempt to reverse the Culture Ministry's decision to allow the building over the hippodrome.^[6] 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.^[7] The site was protected until 2015 when construction began again.

See also

• Berytus
• Circus of Carthage

Notes

1. 1 2 http://stateofmind13.com/2012/03/18/save-beiruts-heritage-the-roman-hippodrome-to-be-demolished/
2. ↑ John Humphrey, "Berytus hippodrome on "Roman Circuses: Arenas for Chariot Racing". p. 441
3. 1 2 http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/minister-culture-dismantles-beiruts-roman-hippodrome
4. ↑ http://www.lorientlejour.com/category/%C3%80+La+Une/article/750188/L'hippodrome_romain_de_Beyrouth_englouti_par_les_promoteurs.html
5. ↑ The three previous Culture Ministers, Mitri, Wardé, and Salam criticized Layoun's move and reiterated the importance of protecting and preserving the archeological site (http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=395164) A march to protest the destruction of the hippodrome took place on March 24, 2012 (https://www.facebook.com/events/395461473816530/)
6. ↑ http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/protest-called-protect-lebanese-ancient-ruins
7. ↑ http://libnanews.com/2012/05/31/hippodrome-romain-de-beyrouth-la-justice-suspend-la-decision-de-demantelement/

Bibliography

• Humphrey, JH. Roman Circuses: Arenas for Chariot Racing. University of California. Los Angeles, 1986 ISBN 9780520049215

Roman Archaeological sites in Beirut & Lebanon
Roman Berytus (actual Beirut)	Berytus 1 Roman Forum of Berytus Berytus Roman Baths Cisterns of Berytus Baths Berytus Cardo Decumanus Berytus Colonnaded street Byzantine Mosaics Roman hippodrome of Berytus Roman Law school of Berytus
Roman Phoenicia (actual Lebanon)	Baalbeck (Heliopolis in Phoenicia) Temple of Bacchus Temples of Mount Hermon Temples of the Beqaa Valley Arca Caesarea Colonia Aurelia Pia "Sidon" Tyrus 1 Tripolis in Phoenicia Niha Tyre Necropolis Saraain El Faouqa Castra El Banat Castra Chbib Qal'at Bustra temple Nebi Safa temple Mansourieh Roman aqueduct Hebbariye temple Deir Mar Maroun Monastery Dakoue temple Canalizations of Zenobia Batroumine Bakka temple Amioun Monastery Ain Aata temple Afqa Aaqbe temple
Related articles & lists	Roman Lebanon Phoenice (Roman province) Stone of the Pregnant Woman Ulpianus Marcus Valerius Probus Palaestina Secunda Coele-Syria List of Christian cathedrals in Lebanon Christianity in Lebanon Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral 551 Beirut earthquake
1 UNESCO World Heritage Sites 2 Proposed

Archaeological sites in Lebanon
Aadloun Aaiha Aammiq Aaqbe Ain Aata Ain Choaab Ain Harcha Akbiyeh Akkar plain foothills Al-Bireh Amioun Amlaq Qatih Anjar, Lebanon Antelias cave Apheca Ard Saouda Ard Tlaili Arqa Baalbek Baidar ech Chamout Batroumine Batroun Bechamoun Beirut Beit Mery Berytus (Roman Beirut) Bustan Birke Byblos Canalizations of Zenobia Dahr El Ahmar Dakoue Deir El Aachayer Deir el Ahmar Deir Mar Maroun Dekwaneh Douris (Baalbek) Elaea (Lebanon) Flaoui Fadous Sud Hebbariye Hadeth south Haret ech Cheikh Hashbai Heliopolis in Phoenicia Hermel plains Iaat Jabal es Saaïdé Jbaa Jdeideh Jebel Aabeby Jeita Grotto Joub Jannine Jieh Kafr Zabad Kamid al lawz Kamouh el Hermel Karak Nuh Kaukaba Kefraya Kafr Tebnit Kfar Qouq Kfarhata Khallet Michte Khirbet El-Knese Kouachra megalith field Ksar Akil Labweh Lake Qaraoun (Ain Jaouze) Libbaya Lion Tower Majdal Anjar Mansourieh Maronite mummies Mayrouba Mdoukha (Jebel Kassir) Moukhtara Mtaileb Nabi Zair Nachcharini Nahle, Lebanon Neba'a Faour Nebi Safa Niha Bekaa Phoenician port of Beirut Plain of Zgharta Qaa Qal'at Bustra Qalaat Tannour Qaraoun Qasr el Banat Ras Baalbek I Ras Beirut Ras El Kelb Rashaya Roman Forum of Berytus Roman hippodrome of Berytus Sands of Beirut Saraain El Faouqa Shheem Sidon Sin el Fil Sarepta Stone of the Pregnant Woman Tahun ben Aissa Taire Tayibe Tell Aalaq Tell Ablah Tell Addus Tell Ahle Tell Ain Cerif Tell Ain el Meten Tell Ain Ghessali Tell Ain Nfaikh Tell Ain Saouda Tell Ain Sofar Tell Ayoub Tell Bar Elias Tell Beshara Tell Bir Dakoue Tell Deir Tell Delhamieh Tell Derzenoun Tell Dibbine Tell el-Burak Tell El Ghassil Tell El Hadeth Tell Fadous Tell Hazzine Tell Hoch Rafqa Tell Karmita Tell Khardane Tell Kirri Tell Jezireh Tell Jisr Tell Kabb Elias Tell Majdaloun Tell Masoud Tell Mekhada Tell Meouchi Tell Mureibit Tell Murtafa Tell Nahariyah Tell Neba'a Chaate Tell Neba'a Litani Tell Qasr Labwe Tell Rasm El Hadeth Tell Rayak Tell Saatiya Tell Safiyeh Tell Saoudhi Tell Serhan Tell Shaikh Hassan al Rai Tell Shamsine Tell Sultan Yakoub Tell Taalabaya Tell Wardeen Tell Zenoub Tell Zeitoun Temnin el-Foka Temple of Bacchus Temple of Eshmun Temple of Jupiter Tlail megaliths Toron Tripolis (region of Phoenicia) Tyre Necropolis Tyre, Lebanon Wadi Boura Wadi Koura Wadi Yaroun Yammoune Yanta Ain W Zain Zahlé