Beirut is a city of layers, a city in flux on timescales of both months and millennia, whose rich and turbulent history can be read from its buildings. Archaeological ruins in Lebanon — that still stand in pockets, gardens, and underneath raised shopping malls — reveal cultural changes. Neanderthals, Phoenicians, Romans, Ottomans, and Crusaders have all left their traces behind. The French colonial occupation in the first half of the 20th century can be seen in the buildings which mix European and Middle Eastern styles. Yet many of these facades are riddled with bullet holes which remain as memories of the violence of the Civil War of the 1980s. Following the end of a Syrian occupation only a decade ago, a resurgence of revitalization in the city center has occurred with new, modern metal and glass buildings coming up at a fast pace. Many have objected to this modernization of the ancient Beiruti souks, or market places. Regardless, this represents the latest in a deep chronological series of changes in the city.
