The Temple of Hercules is the most visible Roman structure on the Citadel hill — six standing columns from a 2nd-century Roman temple built to honour Hercules, the protective deity of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, who was visiting the region during construction. The temple was one of the largest Roman temples in the eastern Mediterranean when complete, but most of it was demolished in the Byzantine period to provide building material for the church constructed on the same hilltop.
What remains — the six columns, the massive podium, and fragments of the decorated frieze — is still impressive in scale. The columns stand against the sky at the highest point of the Citadel, with a view that extends across the valley to the opposite hills of the old city. Coming at sunset, when the limestone turns golden, is worth the timing.