Painter of Turtle Trainer in Lebanon

We went to Beytüddin Palace, which was built between 1788-1818 by the Druze Emir Beşir al-Şihâb II, the regional governor of the Ottoman Empire, and then to the city of Sur (Tyre). The name of Beyt ed Din, that is, the house of faith/religion, was odd to me. Actually, this is a wonderful building. After 1840, the Ottomans and the French during the mandate period used this place as an administrative building.

Now the President of Lebanon spends the summer here and conducts the administration from here. Located in the Deir al-Qamar valley, it reflects the architecture of the region with all its majesty, and a wide courtyard welcomes you. We start to tour the rooms on the left, the cedar woodworks are wonderful. There is a terrace in front of it where you can see the whole valley, right in front of you is the huge cedar pine on the Lebanese flag, there are mosaics in front of it, on the left wall there is the motif that we liken to svestika with Meryem.

In the place called Daru'l Baraniye, passengers were hosted for up to three days without asking for identity cards. From here, we pass to the place we can call the daru'l-vusta, that is, the middle house, and the pool in the courtyard welcomes you with all its coolness. This place looks a bit like Alhambra in Andalusia. Nested rooms, very beautifully rendered. The departments where managers and other personnel stay are different. The place called El-Katiba is evident from its name, it is the place of the staff who takes care of the secretariat works of the Emir. The third part is the daru'l-harim, that is, the place where Emir and his family stay. I can't explain the decorations here, you have to go and see them. From the right side of the building, a narrow corridor leads to the Turkish Bath. We left the palace and had a snack next to the bus, everyone was offering what they had brought out of their bag, perhaps this was one of the best parts of this journey.

Ancient City of Sur

We reached the city of Sur, which was founded in 3000 BC and has been accepted as a world cultural heritage site by UNESCO since 1984. We visited historical places here, thanks to the guide, he explained in detail, and my teacher İsmail continued the translation despite the risk of sunstroke. The city is predominantly Shiite, while our guide explained that Hezbollah saved this place from the Israeli occupation, and I actually felt the excitement he experienced while questioning Saudi Arabia's function in the Islamic world. We enter the ancient city of the Necropolis, accompanied by our guide, and walk along the main street (cardo). We come to the hippodrome and take a breather and rest in the standing stands.

This was also a highly developed Phoenician city. The famous historian Herodotus came here and stated that it was founded in 2750 BC. The Assyrian king Nabuchadnazzar captured this place, and then the Persians. The Phoenicians, the Canaanites, lived; They fought with the Persians against the Greeks. Alexander the Great and then the Romans took over and in time the Phoenicians disappeared into the Romans. Hz. It is also said that Jesus came here and St. Paul had a church built. Hz. It came under the control of Muslims during the time of Omar. It became an Ottoman city with Yavuz Sultan Selim.

Sidon and its Castle

We reached the city of Sayda (Sidon) in the evening, we toured the bazaar, my teacher Fatih offered dessert and we were able to visit the castle on the famous beach. Of course, we arrived at the castle with a little delay, because travelers stumbled upon the stalls selling vegetables and fruits on the roadside, we asked for the name of it, but we bought a delicious fruit that we forgot, it looks like a pine cone, it tastes like a mix of melon, banana, and has large seeds. Professor Adnan Zeki insulted us, but it was worth it, we served it to friends and neighbors at the faculty, they saw it for the first time, tasted it, liked it. I think the staff at the airport smiled while passing through the x-ray device, like my teacher Adnan. While we were waiting for the plane at Beirut airport, a few friends we traveled with bought it, moreover, it is a little expensive.

Anyway, back to the tour, this place was built by the Crusaders in the 13th century on a small island that you reach by an 80-meter road. Previously, there was the palace of the Phoenician King and a temple dedicated to the Phoenician gods. The walls of the castle, which watched the city for 800 years, were built from their stones. It was quite damaged when the Mamluk State captured it, but they had it restored immediately. The Ottomans had it restored in the 17th century and built a small mosque inside.

We were able to visit this place thanks to the help of the Konya excursion group, which came to the city a few hours before us.

Turtle Trainer Painter and Sayda
I actually remember this place from the Sarcophagus of Alexander and Crying Women in the Istanbul archaeological museum, as you already know that Osman Hamdi Bey, who drew the tosbiks, the small turtles, which are the symbols of the philosophy and history community, was also a famous archaeologist and directed the Sayda excavations. On the way back, I told this situation to tosbik Süheyla excitedly. Tired, tired but a great dinner and back to Beirut.

October 31, 2021: Load the suitcases on the bus and go straight to Caîta Cave between the green mountains, from there to Harissa (the Temple of the Virgin Mary) nagi), Jubayl (Byblos) will be visited. We reach the Caita region from the Nehru'l-kalp valley, the cave got its name from here.
At the entrance, we crowded into cute tractor-drawn wagons, it's a short cut, but we made it even more beautiful with songs. There is a large Greek Statue at the entrance of the cave, it says Harisu'z-Zaman, Adnan Zeki Hodja, when one of your landlords said, I immediately ran there, we had photos taken as a single or as a group.

Once inside, it is forbidden to take photos, he applied for the 7 wonders of the world but was not accepted, we can call it the 8th Wonder. After walking for a while, we got on the boats and took a tour in the cave lake.

Then the second cave was passed, we only walked there, but it is really a place to go and see. Outside again, choo choo sorry, we got on the tractor-drawn wagons and went down with songs.
After a while, we reached the place where Harisa Hill is located. A great Hz. We took the cable car to the hill where the statue of Virgin Mary is located. Similar to the Statue of Christ, there was already a statue in Byblos representing the Lebanese who went to South America, and the same one existed in South America. Since it was Sunday, there was a mass inside, and it was obvious that some people sitting on the sofas outside were reciting prayers with similes on their lips. In Arabic, French and English they said that this is a place of worship and that please keep the silence. From there we could see the whole city from a bird's eye view. On the way down, Adnan Zeki Hodja cheered up the atmosphere with his songs, bless his heart.

Byblos was given free time, we went down to the port, sat next to the Statue, the symbol of those who went to South America, we realized that we were quite tired here. On the way to the meeting place, Gamze Hanım sang an Arabic song with piano accompaniment in a cafe, Adnan Hodja accompanied her with a rhythm, does this concert ease our tiredness? Peace to their hearts once again, they never left us alone with their performances throughout the whole journey. From there, we went to a large restaurant overlooking the sea, as if we attacked the huge tray of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions and radishes because we thought that men always bring side dishes. When the waiters laughed, Meryem realizing that there was something strange, asked if these were decorations, and when she said yes, the tables broke into laughter, because the same thing had happened at the other table. The men looked, the situation was grave, they immediately started to bring other hot foods to be eaten, and our eyes were a little bit full. I think it was the most memorable moment of the trip. In short, it was a nice trip, so if you ask what is the result, what is the final determination of your impression:

We ended the French occupation of Hatay and Antep, but its dominance over Syria and Lebanon still continues. When I remember that they once tried to occupy our cities, I say that Lebanon is actually our border; This is what we mean by Bilad al-Sham (Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Palestine). However, when the current situation is said to be an unwritten National Pact (1943), the president is a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister is a Sunni Muslim, the Speaker of the Parliament is a Shiite Muslim, and the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament and the Deputy Prime Minister will be Greek Orthodox, is it possible to have stability in an administration shaped by religion and sects? ? Or is it possible to address the corruption that emerged in such an administration and to solve the problem? It is as if the region was created to remain in constant tension and conflict.