Report by Claudine Nahhas

 

Translated by Aline Aoun

 

 

 

 Jezzine is a town in Lebanon located 22 km from Sidon and 40 km south of Beirut. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests, and at an average altitude of 950 m, it is the main summer resort and tourist destination of South Lebanon. The town is also famous in Lebanon for its production of handmade, traditional cutlery and daggers with decorative inlays, as well as the shrine of Our Lady of the Waterfall.

 

 

 

The population number is approximately 16 thousand inhabitants and the numbers of voters are 8 thousand people. Jezzine covers an area of ​​2421 hectares, about 73 km from the city of Beirut and rises 950 meters above sea level.

 

 

 

The name, Jezzine, derives from the Aramaic Syriac word, meaning "depot" or "store". Many historians believe that Jezzine served as a storing location for traders because of its strategic location on the caravan route that connected the ancient port city of Sidon to the Chouf and the Bekaa Valley and to Syria.

 

 

 

 Jezzine plays a commercial role because it forms a natural pass for the merchants of Sidon towards Damascus, through the Bekaa.

 

 

 

 

Jezzine is internationally renowned for its handcrafted knives and other cutlery, made of inlaid mosaics and bone. The unique cutlery has been presented as gifts to dignitaries all over the world as a unique memento of Lebanon.

 

 

 

Also it is known for its marble stones "filetto massa". Today it comprises more than ten factories for processing marble, decoration and decorating houses. A large number of families depend on this industry as an essential resource to their livelihoods. Also wax industry is known in the town.

 

  

 

The city of Jezzine, is rich in minerals and natural wealth, especially iron, and coal.

 

 

 

Jezzine is South Lebanon’s primary summer resort. It is rich in natural beauty, featuring pine-forested valleys and mountain summits, ponds, and waterfalls. The town is known as the “City of Falls” because of its famous waterfalls, the Jezzine Falls.

 

 

 

Jezzine has a huge water reservoir which makes it a green area rich in water. The town has 24 springs; the largest and most important one is Jezzine spring, which provides drinking water for people and land irrigation.

 

Jezzine waterfall is the fifth highest waterfall in the world and the highest in Lebanon and the region, rising 904 meters above sea level. It attracts Lebanese, Arab and foreign tourists, especially in the summer.

 

 

 

The town gathers lots of churches, shrines historical sites, which attract tourists among them: Lady Almaabor, the Municipal Palace, mills, bridges, Old Market, Palace of Dr. Farid Serhal, restaurants and hotels.

 

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Jezzine depends in its economy on several factors, most notably tourism since it is a magnificent combination of a large number of hotels, restaurants and natural beauty. Jezzine is also famous for growing high quality apples which are exported all over the world, as well as several types ofgrapes used in the manufacturing of alcoholic beverages.

 

 

 

Some of Jezzine’s important men: Patriarch Boulos Muchi who was elected in 1955 and was appointed the first Maronite cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1965, one of the independence men Rashad Azar, Badri Salim Muchi, first pharmacist who established a medical laboratory.

 

 

 

Jezzine New Government Serail which was inaugurated in 2000 includes military and official institutions; as well as Jezzine Government Hospital which provides treatment to people in need.

 

 

 

 

 

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