Bcharre Things to Do

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Khalil Gibran was one of Lebanon's greatest writers and artists. He studied with Rodin. His best-known work is "The Prophet", which in the 1960s became a cult book in the West. A line of his poetry was incorporated by John Lennon in his song "Julia".

Gibran was born in Bcharre in 1893, and you can visit the house where he was born. His bust stands in the garden. He died in New York in 1931, but his body was returned for burial in his homeland.

The cedars of Lebanon are mentioned already in the Old Testament. By that time cedar forests covered big areas of the mountain slopes.
At The Cedars today, only a small grove of cedars is left. They are now well protected with a fence around the area and walking paths for the tourists. Some of the trees are over 1000 year.
There is no special entrance fee, but you will be asked to contribute to the maintenance of "The Forest of Gods Cedar", starting at 1000 LL.

Coming from the coast Deir Qozhaya was the first Maronite monastery we visited at our way to Bcharre. The monastery lies in a wonderful area. From the road to the monastery we had a first look in the Kadisha Valley.
We enjoyed the landscape and became very anxious to see more, not knowing yet how breathtaking the valley near Bcharre would be.

Deir Qozhaya or Der Mar Antonias Qozhaya is the largest hermitage in the Kadisha Valley. The hermitage is still in use since its foundation in the 12th century. Just in 1995 the new museum was opened. In the museum you can see old books in Syriac and a collection of religious and ethnografic objects. Near the entrance of the monastery is the Grotto of St Anthony, locally also called the Cave of the Mad. In the cave you can see chains for the insane and possessed, who were left here.

Hadchit lies at the edge of the Kadisha Valley at 1320 M.
From Hadchit a path goes down leading to the monasteries and hermit caves in the valley. The area between Hadchit and Balouza counts 800 rockchapels and
rockdwellings, like the cave of Deir es Salib, the rockchapel of Mar Antoun Beddaoui, the caves of Mar Selouan, Mar Chalitta and Mar Jourios. To find these places you need somebody to guide you down.
We didn't do that, but had a look down at the graveyard at the steep slope. In this graveyard we saw a lot of small "houses" for 2 till 4 persons with the most beautifull views at the holy valley for the dead.

In the village Hadchit at the edge of the Kadisha Valley, we visited one of the three churches in the village. Outside this church at a corner we saw a Roman headless statue. After it was nominated to be a pagan statue, the statue was banned out of the church. In the church we had a look at themany painted pannels.
At the north side of the road we walked to some remains dating from before the Roman Period, but there was nobody who could explain us something about these remains.

In the Kadisha Cave just east of Bcharre the Kadisha River or also called the Nahr Abu Ali take its rise. In the small cave you can see how the water with a lot of power is coming down from the steep rocks in the cave.
Outside the cave the Kadisha River is still a small stream, but allready impressive by its power.

Not far from Bcharre along the old road to the Cedars is the Kadisha Cave.
From the road it's a 15 minutes walk to the cave. In this cave the Kadisha River take its rise. The cave is not very large, but it's nice to have a look.

Opening hours: 9.00 am till 4.00 pm
Entrance fee: LL 1000