Saida’s Island
The “Island of Saida” which served as an external port in antiquity, cuts into the horizon to the north, a few meters away. One gets to it by boat; this allows us to admire the remains of a quay with numerous mooring points, marks of constructions, and the remnants of a wall built with big blocks of stone, thought to be of Phoenician origin. Beyond the quay, a rocky edge runs along the island. A niche cut in its’ middle gives way to a short tunnel that emerges onto a rectangular space cut straight in the rock. This excavation of twelve meters wide and twenty-five meters long is sheltered from both storms and inquisitive eyes. Ernest Renan even called it the “Ladies’ Bath”. As for A. de Poidebard and J. Lauffrey, they only saw in it the remnants of an ancient and intensive port activity. Finally, on the western shore, the island reveals a relief jagged by the eroding water. It offers a view fraught with great beauty. Renan, in his book entitled “Mission de Phenicie” describes it as follows: ” (…) The waves act like a saw cutting the rock at the level of the sea surface (…) here, these indentations, these cups, and these holes resembling sponges covering the rocks at sea level along the coast of Syria…”