Report: Mona Karam
Translated by Aline Aoun
NNA - Bshari is a Lebanese town in the province of North Lebanon, the center of Bshari district. It's 1400 meters above the sea level and situated on the borders of Kadisha Valley.
It is the only town which has a reserve that embraces the cedars of Lebanon (Arz el Rab), which are rarely found.
Bshari is also the birthplace of the Global Lebanese-American writer and poet, Gibran Khalil Gibran. This town has a museum that displays Gibran's work in the monastery of Mar Sarkis.
The Sacred Valley of Kadisha is located at the town's borders and is 126 km away from the capital, Beirut.
Several villages are found in Bshari district. The villages look during the day like icons of brick, while they gleam at night as giant lamps. Here are some names of these villages: Kanat , Hesroun , Tourza , Birhaloun , Bazoun , Beit Munzer and Bkerkasha.
The estimated population of the district is about 32 thousand people. They are spread in more than 21 towns.
Bshari district is one among the six districts in the province of North Lebanon and is located on the west side of Makmel Mountain, the highest mountain in Lebanon. Zgharta, Minyeh-Deniyeh districts are located on the north side, Baalbek district from the east, from the south Batroun district and Koura from the West.
Bshari has the oldest Forest of the Cedars of Lebanon and the world.
The town is characterized by its idyllic scenery, especially the Kadisha Valley, where the oldest monastery in Lebanon is found.
Maronites constitute 99% of the population of the district, for this reason Bshari is considered the spiritual center of the Maronites. It has contributed to the preservation of their presence.
Historically, the term "Bshari" is a Phoenician origin and means "house of Ishtar", the goddess of fertility and beauty, which the Phoenicians had worshiped the population of the east coast of the Mediterranean since the old times.
Bshari was a center of a Phoenician colony in ancient times, and in the seventh century it formed along with the surrounding mountains a shelter for the oppressed Maronites.
Unlike other areas of Lebanon, Bshari's population continued the use of the Aramaic language until the nineteenth century. Due to this reason the region's population still speaks a distinct accent, different from the rest of Lebanon these days.
Bshari has a tourism value, as it includes beside Gibran's museum, the Cedar Forest, Kadisha Valley, hotels, motels, night clubs, furnished apartments and others.
It also includes formal institutions of several official departments, courts, security stations, government hospital centers, several civil associations and charities, which are active at the social level.
Bshari's residents are famous in their faith and their attachment to Christianity.
Bshari's Climate is dry and mild in summer, while in winter its cold and snowy.
The most important figures in Bshari:
St. Charbel, the most prominent saint for Maronites, is from Bshari. St. Charbel's beatification took place in recent years by the Vatican. His tomb formed a shrine of the Maronites and the Lebanese.
Also, the great writer, Gibran Khalil Gibran, is from Bshari.
In addition to the house of Gibran is his museum, which was held in the monastery of rock close to the tomb, which includes a large group of his paintings and manuscripts.
His museum and the burial place form a cultural and national pilgrimage for Lebanese and Arabs.
Kadisha Valley:
Kadisha Valley is in the district of Bshari. It is a gift from God and is about 121 km away from the capital Beirut.
It is known as the Valley of the Saints and Qannoubine as it embraces Qannoubine Monastery, and enjoys a bright nature with rivers, waterfalls , springs and caves.
The International Organization UNESCO has classified it in 1998, along with cedar forest, on the World Heritage List.
The most important monasteries in Bshari district are the Maronite Patriarchate from the year 1400 until the year 1790, as well as the Monastery of Saint Alisha who was a witness on the birth of Lebanese Maronite Order year 1695, and the monastery of Qozhaya, it is the headquarters of the first written press in Lebanon in the sixteenth century.
Kadisha Grotto
The Grotto of Kadisha is a masterpiece of groundwater nature in Lebanon and was discovered in 1903.
Cedar forest
Is a gift from the Lord and includes hundreds of Lebanon's cedars.
There is an access from Bshari into the Cedar forest which is (140 km from Beirut). This forest contains hundreds of famous historic cedar trees.
"Bshari" forest is the most famous cedar forest in Lebanon. It has the oldest trees. There are thousands of younger trees that have been planted in order to secure the continuity of national heritage.
Ancient Phoenicians used Lebanese cedar wood to build houses and ships.
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