The fortified city of Anjar is 55 km east of Beirut in the Bekaa plain. It was built in the early 8th century by the Umayyad Caliph of Damascus and became a center for rest and relaxation. Surrounded by a wall seven meters high, Anjar extends over more than 100,000 square meters. Known as the Palace of the Desert, this square-shaped Royal City was built based on a Greek-Roman design.