Written by Ghassan Azar

Translated by Aline Aoun

NNA - Jran is a town in Batroun. The writer Amin Rihani says in his book “The heart of Lebanon”, under the title of "Jran and its owner the son of the town of Khairallah Khairallah," “We came back from Kfifan monastery on the road that we took to it. Ten minutes later we reached the olive groves in the palm of the valley and the rock decorated with oak trees, and then we finally reached Jran.”

Khairallah was born in a little house. In his youth he dressed in black and learned something from the Syriac language to meet the call of spiritual priesthood, however, he learned then -- when he was in Belgium where Patriarch Elias Hwaik sent him to complete his studies at the University of Leuven -- that his call was a mistake. He wrote to the patriarch and said that he could not meet his spiritual call. The Patriarch respected his choice.

Khairallah returned from Belgium to Paris in 1910, and met Andre Tardieu, who was at that time the editor of "Le Temps" newspaper and Khairallah started editing news for twenty years.

Jran is Located in Batroun region, 450 meters above sea level and about 12 km away from Batroun district center.

Poets Garden

Jran embraces remains that go back to the days of the Phoenicians and Byzantines; it is geographically small and grand in history and nobility of its men and their love to science. The poets' garden was established at the hands of the poet Abdullah Abi Abdullah, and was the first garden in Lebanon.

The town witnessed the opening of a public library with ten thousand books to promote culture and motivate reading.

Jran's men assumed high positions like that of journalist and politician Khairallah Khairallah, whose name echoed in international forums defending his nation and the Arab world.

He was sentenced to death in 1916 by Jamal Basha and was killed in Tunisia in 1930.

The town of Jran is beautiful, located in a low place on the shoulders of beautiful hills decorated with olive, oak, tannins, elms and pine trees.

The town has internal roads as if you're in a tunnel. On the other side of the town there is the broad highway which leads Batroun to all other districts.

Jran is known as the “tourist empire” due to its restaurants which are spread on both sides of the road.

The town has a municipal council which includes nine members chaired by Dr. George Tannous. It also has public schools, two shops and stores, distributed on both sides of the highway, a factory to repair weapons, a Pharmacy and bakeries.

Its Population

Jran comprises of one thousand people distributed over a hundred and thirty houses.

The most important families are: Rizk, Farah, Khoury, Baz, Akl, Sarkis, Youssef, Hanna, Anton, Tannous, Hilal, Saad, Abi Nassif, Shaheen, Mudlij, Khairallah and Abi Abdullah.

Neighborhoods of the town

The town has neighborhoods with archaeological sites from the days of the Phoenicians.

Memory of the town

In the memory of the town, the hero of Lebanon Youssef Beik Karam was a close friend of Sheikh Fares Tannous Abi Abdullah. He has visited him more than once with a group of his supporters and in the evening he used to disappear from view and spend the night in the house of the poet’s grandfather Abdullah Abi Abdullah, as he feared Daoud Basha.

It is also worth to note that one of the Egyptian officers who had resided at his residence gave him an archaeological sword which says a gift from Al-Khidyawi Ismael -- the ruler of Egypt at that time. This sword is still in the possession of Abi Abdullah family in Jran.

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