Pregnant Woman Stone in an early 20th century photo
Baalbek is home to one of the most impressive quarries of antiquity, known primarily for its gigantic stone blocks, such as the “Pregnant Woman Stone” (Hajjar al-Hibla). The largest of these weighs about 1,000 tons and is one of the heaviest worked stones in the world. The Romans used similar blocks to build the monumental Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek, one of the largest temple complexes of the empire.
Baalbek, known in ancient times as Heliopolis, was one of the main religious centers in the region. In Roman times, the city, called Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Heliopolitana, became an important place of worship for Jupiter, Venus, and Bacchus. The Romans built gigantic temples here, of which the Temple of Jupiter stood out with its colossal columns (over 20 m high), which emphasized the importance of the city as a center of imperial worship.
Interestingly, it is still not known exactly how the Romans transported such huge blocks of stone to the construction site.
