#LiveLoveTyre lets beauty shine through political cracks

Home to a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Tyre, also known as Sour, comes together like a color palette with hues both bright and somber.

2016-08-18 06:00

Home to a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Tyre, also known as Sour, comes together like a color palette with hues both bright and somber. It is home to some of the oldest ruins in the country and has likely the biggest concentration of public spaces of all Lebanese cities. Amid a waste crisis that has the country swimming in garbage, Tyre's shores are considered some of the cleanest. And as you'll see in the Instagram pictures below, they're pretty epic, too.

But it is also, rightly or not, considered to be a fault-line of political turmoil in the country, owing to a long history of conflict with the country's southern neighbor, which is classified as an enemy state. So you're likely to be met with a hesitant pause, a slight grimace, a "I-don't-know-how-to-put-this-without-sounding-biased-but..." when you suggest a beach day in this most epic city. You spend an inordinate amount of time explaining why the security situation is really "not so bad," and how it's totally worth the hour and a half trip.

There's actually an Instagram account to help you through that awkward encounter. #LiveLoveTyre, which has over 25,000 followers, shows that truly, a picture can speak a thousand words.

According to the page's founder, Jubran Elias, the Instagram account boosted tourism by around 20 percent, a number that StepFeed cannot independently confirm.

"It's not only the Lebanese who are following us, but the whole world and I wanted to share the beauty of this city to all," Elias told StepFeed. Elias isn't a native of Tyre, but said one visit for him was enough to "fall in love" with the city, inspired by "its authenticity, the beauty and the people that live there."

"Every picture tells a story," said Elias.

Have a look for yourself: