Doorway to the Shrine - Temple of Bacchus - Baalbek, Lebanon

Even in the state of utter ruin into which this temple has fallen, such a picture as this calls up at once a mental vision of the architectural splendours which made the shrine of Bacchus at Baalbek one of the most beautiful of its kind in the world. Vine leaves, as befits the god to whom the temple was dedicated, are a noticeable motif in the carving, which is rich and luxuriant, but never oversteps the line into the florid and over-decorated.

From Wonders of the Past