Beirut city center contains sites and monuments spanning 5,000 years and layers of civilizations from the Canaanite to the Ottoman, including the Phoenician, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad, Abbasid, Crusader and Mamluk periods. Underscored in the urban design and conveyed to the public through lively educational experiences, their importance has made Beirut a historic city destination. At the heart of an ever growing, culturally rich and sophisticated capital, the city center is vibrant with art, music and theatre, exhibitions and conferences; music, language, primary and secondary schools; a children's science museum offering e-training; a regional research library and city archives.