Tyre boasts a proud Phoenician past, wonderful seaside location, Roman ruins and a medieval souq. Home to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), it also has good beaches and a decent array of hotels, making it a popular holiday destination for Beirutis. (Lonely Planet)
Tyre, sometimes called Sour, dates its foundation back to approximately 2750 BC, after which it was ruled by the Egyptians and then the famous King Hiram, under whom it prospered. Later colonised variously by the Assyrians, Neo-Babylonians, Greeks, Seleucids, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamluks and Ottomans, the settlement began to languish from the 13th century onwards and, despite many attempts, never quite recovered its former glory.
