It was towards the end of the 6th century BC, that Sidon experienced its golden age. Made capital of the Fifth Province of the Persian Empire, Sidon was an open city with many cultural influences, including the Egyptian and Greek. The crusader period, between 1110 and 1291, brought Sidon new prestige as the second of the baronies of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Today the ruins of the Crusader Sea Castle and the Castle of Saint-Louis can still be seen in Sidon. From the Mamluke and Ottoman periods we have the Great Mosque, built on the foundations of a Crusader church and the khan-el-Franj built by Fakhreddine II.