Ehden (Lebanon) is a mountainous town situated in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal and Kornet el Sawda, the highest peak in Lebanon. Its occupants are primarily the people of Zgharta as it is part of the Zgharta District.

The mountain town is located 1500 m above sea level, and is 25 km from Zgharta, 110 km from Beirut (the country’s capital) and 30 km from Tripoli.

Ehden is a famous summer resort and touristic center often called "the Bride of Summer Resorts in the North of Lebanon."

Gastronomy is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in Ehden, especially in summer. Kebbeh Meshwyeh (krass), a traditional cuisine, is particularly notable in this town.


Our Lady of Nourieh, Saydet el Nourieh in Arabic, is a Marian shrine in Hamat, Lebanon. Nourieh is a derivative of the Arabic word, nour, meaning light. Thus, in English, the Marian shrine can be called, Our Lady of Light.

The story of Our Lady of Light shrine and monastery is celebrated throughout Lebanon, a country where Christianity has existed since Jesus first evangelized in Tyre and Sidon, and therefore, Lebanon is often considered part of the “Holy Land.” [1] Some of the first Christian communities were set up in Lebanon during the time of the apostles.[1]

It is believed that two sailors built the shrine in the 4th century. One winter night, on a very stormy sea, the two sailors found themselves in peril. They began praying, and the Virgin appeared to them as a light and guided them gently to the shore of Theoprosopon near modern day Chekka in North Lebanon. The grateful sailors carved a cave in the cliff and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary, and called the shrine, Our Lady of Light. A Greek Orthodox monastery was built in the 17th century.[2] The miraculous icon of the Theotokos has been venerated for centuries for having glowed with light to attract wayward ships.[3]

The shrine is a popular Christian pilgrimage site in Lebanon, and tourists and pilgrims alike enjoy the beautiful view of the bay from atop historic Cape.


Qana also spelled Cana (in Arabic: قاناý) is a village in southern Lebanon located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southeast of the city of Tyre and 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) north of the border with Israel. The 10,000 residents of Qana are primarily Shiite Muslim although there is also a Christiancommunity in the village.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is said to have performed his first miracle of turning water into wine atCana in Galilee. Some Christians, especially Lebanese Christians, believe Qana to have been the actual location of this event.[1] However, a tradition dating back to the 8th century identifies Cana with the modern village of Kafr Kanna, about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) northeast of Nazareth, Israel.[2]

In 1994, Nabih Berri, Lebanon's Parliament Speaker and leader of the secular Shiite Amal movement, wanted to establish a Christian shrine at a cave in Qana to attract tourists and pilgrims.[1] The government sent a 100-man company of troops to Qana to prevent potential religious conflict. This proposal was revived in 1999.[3]


A biblical land, Lebanon possesses an abundance of religious sites where Christians of many denominations find peace, serenity and contemplation. These Christian sites – basilicas, cathedrals, churches, chapels, sanctuaries, convents, monasteries and even hermits’ caves – are found throughout Lebanon, a land celebrated in the Song of Solomon for its fragrance and beauty.

Set in the Mediterranean, cradle of the great monotheistic religions, spiritual and mystical life in Lebanon has flourished over the centuries. Often the architecture of nature, hard stone barely touched by man, proved best suited for the approach and communion with God. Their materials are limestone, gray basalt; their edifices are like great books of stone where one can read history in all its variety and change. In such simple places of worship the strength and ardor of a faith can be perceived most directly.

Lebanon is often invoked in the Old Testament and since ancient times its natural beauty has inspired many writers. If it was called the “land of milk and honey,” it is no less the land of myrrh and incense. A fragrance rises from its mountains, its waterfalls, orchards, hills, shores and forests. Lebanon is a country where the feet of Christ have trod, and is one of the first children of Christianity. It was the Son of God himself who served as its first evangelist. The Holy scriptures reveal that Jesus undertook many journeys and performed several miracles in the region of Sidon and Tyre. It was in Cana, south of Tyre, where the first miracle – transforming water into wine – took place. Jesus even praised the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon for their Faith, which he compared with the unbelief demonstrated by the villages of orthodox Judea. To the Pharisees, Jesus recalled an episode in the life of the prophet Elie, who, during a famine was cared for by a widow in Sarepta, Lebanon’s Sarafand.


Wadi Qadisha or the Holy Valley

In the high majestic mountains of the north, Christianity’s long presence is marked by countless sanctuaries and places of devotion.

The deep gorge of Wadi Qadisha opens dramatically at the foot of Bsharreh village, and then branches into many small valleys to make its tortuous way to the sea.

The word “Qadisha” comes from a Semitic root meaning “holy”, a fitting name for this gorge whose depths lie at the bottom of sheer cliffs and which is rich in water from melting snow. In Medieval times Christian monks rediscovered the caves and shelters that had been inhabited in antiquity and reused them to build chapels, hermitages and rock-cut monasteries in the valley. Monks of all confessions, even Muslim soufis, secluded themselves here to lead a life of contemplation and meditation. They prayed in many languages: Arabic, Greek, Syriac and Ethiopian.


Deir Qannoubin

In a grandiose and almost wild setting overlooked by the small towns of Blawza and Diman, stands Deir Qannoubin, which from the 15th to the 19th centuries was the residence of the Maronite patriarchs. It is this monastery, (“Kenobion” means “monastery” in Greek) with its atmosphere of piety that gave its name to this part of the valley.

Built into the rock, the monastery’s church is a model of simplicity and austerity. Among its wall paintings, dating from the last two centuries is a representation of the coronation of the Virgin by the Trinity. An inscription above it in Syriac is from a passage in the Song of Solomon: “Come from Lebanon, my betrothed and you will be crowned.”

A nearby annex to the monastery is the chapel of Saint Marina where 18 Maronite patriarchs are entombed. It is said that Saint Marina was falsely accused and performed long and hard penitence here. Later she was consecrated as the spiritual godmother of the valley.


Mar Sarkis

In this Holy Valley dialogue with God seems continuous; such is the number of sanctuaries where prayer or pious thought links the individual to the Eternal. Originally the site of Mar Sarkis was probably a cave tomb and today all that remains is an altar above the rock-cut vault. The generous shade of two old Mediterranean oak trees gives this place an atmosphere of calm and serenity appropriate to meditation.


Deir Mar Elishaa or the Monastry of Saint Eliseus

Deir Mar Elishaa (monastery of Saint Elisee) is built into a great cliff where long ago hermits fixed their cells. Its church is composed of four small altar niches cut from the rock. Very ancient, the exact date of its construction is unknown, but records show that the Lebanese Maronite Order was founded here in 1685 and that a Maronite bishop lived in the monastery in the 14th century. Travelers of the 17th and 18th centuries also mentioned Deir Mar Elishaa.


Deir Es-Salib or the Monastery of the Cross

The rocky cave-hermitage of Deir es-Salib draws the attention of visitors as much for its difficulty of access as the poverty and humility of its appearance. Even with ropes and ladders it was difficult to reach the cells of these anchorites, who deliberately cut themselves off from the world and lived only for the love of God.

Inscriptions and frescoes, some going back to at least the 13th century, can still be seen here although they are badly preserved. One can make out Chalcedonian remains, writing in Arabic and Syriac, as well as scraps of frescos badly damaged by erosion and vandalism. Deir es-Salib attracted hermits and monks of all sects and was also a rallying point for Lebanese Christianity in early times.


Deir Mar Antonios Qozhaya or the Monastry of Saint Anthony

Another monastery in this Holy Valley is Deir Qozhaya, whose location in a wilderness of lush greenery gives it an aspect of primeval solitude.

“Qozhaya” in the Syriac language means “treasure of life” and here the treasure was Christ himself, for whom monks abandoned worldly goods and consecrated themselves to poverty and prayer. Today one can still see the cells, stuck to the rock like wasps’ nests, that sheltered the first hermits – those “men intoxicated with God.”

The origins of the monastery go back to the 5th century when the monastic movement was taking hold in the region. A model of religious community life, Deir Mar Antonios Qozhaya was the site of the Middle East’s first printing press, which was imported around 1585. The first publication, in 1610, was an edition of the Psalms, now kept in the library of the Holy Spirit University in Kaslik. Many other liturgical and religious books were published here as well.

The church of Qozhaya is the joint work of man and nature. Set in a natural cave, its upper part is formed of a series of rose colored stone arcades resting on a dozen rose bases. Its façade, with its small columns, its Moorish door and triple bell are hardly separate from the cliff face itself.

The Chapel of Saydet Hawqa This small monastery, probably dating to the 13th century, is composed of a chapel and a few monk’s cells constructed within a shallow cave. Deserted most of the year, the monastery becomes the site of pilgrimage during the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin when a high mass is celebrated at the site on the evening of August 14.


Diman, Summer Residence of the Maronite Patriarch

Not far from Bsharreh, sheltered by cedar trees and dense vegetation, is the summer residence of the Maronite patriarch in Diman. It is a graceful building with a red tile roof, many exterior arcades and a grand courtyard overlooking the Qadisha Valley. The church is decorated with the superb murals of the Lebanese artist Saliba Doueihy.