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Guide >Religious Sites >

Sayyida Khawla Shrine

  • HERITAGE & HISTORY
  • RELIGIOUS TOURISM
  • religious site

Baalbak, Baalbak district

Sayyida Khawla Shrine is located in the southwestern entrance of the city of Baalbak, 85 km to Beirut, and adjacent to its archeological site, in the location of the old roman gardens surrounding the majestic temples. Discovered in the 17th century A.D., the actual aspect of the beautiful shrine goes back to the late 20th century and is distinguished by its beautiful blue color, its archaic motifs and graphics, and its golden minarets, featuring Kashani style, an Islamic style adopted in the religious architecture in Iran, especially in terms of domes, arches, minarets, and the distribution of external courtyards. The shrine consists of 2 floors with the mausoleum in the ground floor, linked to a mosque, and surrounded by a courtyard in which a perennial cypress tree is planted. The shrine also hosts a museum dedicated to Sayyida Khawla and a building for special celebrations. The outstanding interior features a visual richness in terms of the multitude of colors, the reflecting mirrors, the Persian carpets covering the arcades, as well as the shiny pure silver and its encryptions used in the mausoleum. Sayyida Khawla Shrine is one of the most visited Shiite shrines in Lebanon being related to the story of the martyrdom of El Imam El Hussein. And its old cypress tree, currently surrounded by a glass wall, has been always considered a blessing tree to take Baraka from.