With 5,000 years of history behind it, Lebanon’s capital is a city of contradictions. Downtown, mosques and colonial remnants sparkle, while across the city bullet holes and other reminders of the country’s civil war scar the facades of run-down buildings. Elsewhere, young, hip neighborhoods host parties until the wee hours and ethnic communities are filled with restaurants and coffee shops. One of the most religiously diverse cities in the Middle East, Beirut is truly a cultural melting pot.
