Wender·Vista
Sidon
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileLebanon
on the Lebanese coast south of Beirut

Sidon

— — the sea castle the crusaders left behind.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A Phoenician port the world has been writing about for three thousand years. The Sea Castle stands a short stone causeway out from the old harbour, built by crusaders in 1228 on a rock the Phoenicians used before them. Below it the fish boats still come in. Sidon is a working city that happens to be older than most countries.

from the studio
Sidon
— bring it home

Sidon, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Sidon

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Sidon, called Saida in Arabic, is the third-largest city in Lebanon, about 40 kilometres south of Beirut on the eastern Mediterranean coast. The old harbour anchors the historic core, which holds the Sea Castle, the Khan al-Franj caravanserai, and a covered souk that has been continuously inhabited since the Bronze Age. The city was one of the principal Phoenician ports alongside Tyre and Byblos, named in the Iliad and the Hebrew Bible, and serves today as the capital of the South Governorate.

— informed by Wikipedia — Sidon
— the stone

The Sidon Sea Castle was built by the crusaders around 1228 on a small island linked to the mainland by a narrow stone causeway about eighty metres long. The builders reused Roman columns as horizontal binders in the walls, and they still protrude from the stonework today. Mamluks partly dismantled it after retaking the city; later restorations and the 1837 earthquake reshaped what stands. The Khan al-Franj, a 17th-century caravanserai built by Emir Fakhreddine II, anchors the souk a few streets inland.

— the visit

Sidon sits about 45 minutes south of Beirut on the coastal highway, the same road that continues to Tyre. The Sea Castle, the Soap Museum housed in a 17th-century building, and the Khan al-Franj are within a ten-minute walk of each other in the old town. The Audi family's Soap Museum traces Sidon's olive-oil soap trade and is free to enter. Friday is the quietest morning in the souk, and the fish market by the harbour runs earliest.

— informed by Audi Soap Museum
— where
Lebanon · Sidon, South Governorate
— position
33.5606° N · 35.3758° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
40 km S
Tyre
Phoenician port
40 km N
Beirut
capital city
N
Sidon
Tyre
Beirut
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Sidon — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Sidon has been continuously inhabited since at least the third millennium BCE. Phoenician records, Egyptian texts, and Homer all name it. It is one of the oldest cities in the world still lived in today.

A fortress built by crusaders around 1228 on a small island off the old harbour, connected to the mainland by an eighty-metre stone causeway. The walls still hold reused Roman columns as binders.

On Lebanon's Mediterranean coast, about 40 kilometres south of Beirut and 40 kilometres north of Tyre. It is the capital of the South Governorate and the country's third-largest city.

A small free museum in a 17th-century building in the old town, run by the Audi family, tracing Sidon's olive-oil soap trade. Original vats and presses are kept in place.

Yes. Sidon appears repeatedly in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, often paired with Tyre. Jesus is recorded as travelling through the region of Tyre and Sidon in the Gospels.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for customers with ties to the Lebanese coast. Sidon carries strong meaning for families from the south. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note travels well.

The blues and amber tones sit comfortably in Mediterranean-modern, warm Maximalist, and stone-and-linen interiors. The piece reads as both old-world and quiet, and pairs with natural wood and lime-washed walls.

A single Large covers most sofas. A four-tile Mural reads as one painting from across the room. A nine-tile Mural is the wall piece for a long entry or dining wall.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for those rooms, since both are scratch-resistant and handle steam and splashes. The glossy finish is reserved for framed wall pieces in dry rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth with water, nothing more. No solvents, no abrasive cleaners. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and will not lift with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista painting is made in-house by Reid Wender and the studio. We do not license outside artwork and we do not reproduce other artists' work.

— if this one stayed with you

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