A coastal Lebanese city, located 50 km north of the capital Beirut, and 29 km south of Tripoli, Batroun is the official center of its caza with a population of around 20,000.Due to its distinguished location between the Mediterranean shore and the eastern mountains, many investors were encouraged to establish beach resorts, restaurants and hotels, along the beach and on top of the neighboring hills.
During the sixties and the seventies, the main street was part of the old Beirut-Tripoli highway and traffic passed right through the city. Batroun ,then, was known for its famous original lemonade, served to travelers and visitors who stopped on their way and kept restaurants and cafes working around the clock.
Since the late 1990’s the main street started to regain its original tourist theme, on a larger and more sophisticated scale. Old homes and shops have been completely renovated and turned into restaurants, cafes and night clubs. Visitors from surrounding regions and tourists come to enjoy a seafood meal or have a cup of coffee at a café or to dance the night away at one of the many high tech nightclubs alongside the main street.
During the summer season, visitors and tourists head for the beach resorts to escape the heat and enjoy their favorite water sports such as swimming, waterskiing, windsurfing, or riding aboard a boat or yacht for a sightseeing tour where the pheonician wall, the rocky beach and the old sandstone houses are a real treat for the eye.
Tourists who like visiting historic monuments will enjoy the tourist walk through the old town. Starting at the 19th century old market place where a showcase of sandstone arches and vaults is at display, to the 225m marine phoenican wall sculpted in the nearby beach rocks more then 2000 years ago, to the 100 year old Saint Stephan Cathedral, a masterpiece of roman-byzantine architecture, to the old Phoenician fort damaged by the powerful earthquake of july 551, and last but not least , the roman stadium sculpted in the rocks of mrah el cheikh.
Batroun today is witnessing a major tourist boom. Old sandstone houses are being restored, historic monuments are being enhanced and renovated by the municipality, and the private sector is making new investments in the hospitality services sector . All signs indicate that Batroun is once again a top contender on the national tourist map.
