(Still under construction)
Geography
Deir El Qamar is a smal town situated in the Shouf mountain area,to the south of Beirut. The main altitude is 850 meters, with ranges from 700 to 1000. In order to go there, you have to take the main coastal road to the South from Beirut, up to the town of Damour (22Km), then take the main road up to the mountains (18Km). Total distance fromBeirut 40 kms).
Deir El-Kamar has a very distinctive mixture of sixteenth century building and nineteenth century brick houses. This is one of the most beautiful towns in Lebanon.
Origin of the Name
The origin is Arabic, as compared to the Phoenician, Greek and Syriac names of the surrounding villages, as it is of a more recent history. There are several opinions about why it was called Deir El-Kamar or "Monestry of the Moon". Some said that it refers to the shape of a moon encarved on a rock found there at the beginning of the Maaniyeen era (The rock still exists up to date in the Cathedral Saydet El Talleh "Lady of the Hill").Some Historical Facts
Its convenient location close to the sea yet on a hill, made Deir El-Kamar a leisure place for the Phoenicians as well as a place to built their tombs and a temple over which ruins a Cathedral is built nowadays (Saydet El Talleh). Some Roman findings were discovered in the town in the nineteenth century, and it was also mentioned among the 32 counties of the crusaders.
A notorious history of this town started in the era of the Maaniyeen where the prince Fakhr Ed-Din The First, left the nearby village of Baaklin and announced Deir El-Kamar as the capital of his reign. In it, he built a beautiful mosque in 1493, which is still in a good condition up to date. His grand son the great prince Fakhr Ed-Din The Second made it very prosperous, built huge castles and serais in it and made it the center of his emirate which extented from Halab in the North down to the Egyptian border in the South and into Jordan in the East.It also remained the capital of the Chehab princes who ruled after the Maaniyeen. The great prince Bashir The Second made it a center for commerce and production. It reached an important commerce position and became notorious for that in the whole region.
Some ancient sites in Deir El-Kamar:
Prince Fakhr Ed-Din The First's mosque (1493)
Prince Fakhr Ed-Din The Second's castle : one of the most ancient castles in Lebanon and Syria
Serays of prince Melhem, prince Ahmed, prince Youssef and prince Mahmoud
Houses of Mosa Shouaa and Boutros Karameh (the poet of prince Bashir The Second
Modern history
Deir El Qamar today
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