Zgharta, also spelled Zghorta, is a city in North Lebanon, with an estimated population of around 50,000. It is the second biggest city in Northern Lebanon after Tripoli. Zgharta is officially the Zgharta-Ehden municipality.
Kadisha Valley, also romanized as the Qadisha Valley and also known as the Kadisha Gorge or Wadi Kadisha, is a gorge that lies within the Bsharri and Zgharta Districts of the North Governorate of Lebanon. The valley was carved by the Kadisha River, also known as the Nahr Abu Ali when it reaches Tripoli. Kadisha means "Holy" in Aramaic, and the valley is sometimes called the Holy Valley. It has sheltered Christian monastic communities for many centuries. The valley is located at the foot of Mount al-Makmal in northern Lebanon.
Zgharta Alzawieh District is a district (qadaa) of the North Governorate, northern Lebanon. Its capital is the city of Zgharta.
Ehden is a mountainous city in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal in the Mount Lebanon Range. Its residents are the people of Zgharta, as it is within the Zgharta District.
Arbet Kozhaya, also known as Arbet Qozhaya or Arabet Kozhaya, is one of the fifty-six towns and villages, which make up the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon.
Kfarsghab is a village located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. It is situated in the Valley of Qadisha, which is considered a holy and spiritual place in Eastern Christianity. The main religion of its residents is Maronite Catholicism.
Saint Awtel was a monk in early Christianity venerated in the Middle East. He is celebrated on 3 November, and on 9 October. A church is dedicated to him in the village of Kfarsghab in North-Lebanon where his feast day is celebrated on 3 June and 27 August.
Bane is a Maronite Christian village located in the North Governorate of Lebanon.
Saint Moura, also known as Mart Moura, is a Christian martyr of the third century and is honored in Egypt and the Middle East. Her feast is celebrated on 3 May and on 25 September, 5 Hathor and 8 Pashons in the Coptic church. Several churches are dedicated to her, especially in northern Lebanon, as well as a monastery in Ehden.
Sereel is a village located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. It is situated in the valley of Qozhaya, the northern branch of the Valley of Qadisha.
Aitou is a village located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. Its population is Maronite Catholic.
The Mariamite Maronite Order, also called the Aleppians or Halabites, is a monastic order in the Levantine Catholic Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic Church. The order was founded in 1694 in the Monastery of Mart Moura, Ehden, Lebanon, by three Maronite young men from Aleppo, Syria, under the patronage of Patriarch Estephan Douaihy (1670–1704).
The Baladites, formally known as the Lebanese Maronite Order, is a monastic order among the Levant-based, Catholic Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic Church. The order was founded in 1694 in the Monastery of Mart Moura, Ehden, Lebanon, by three Maronite young men from Aleppo, Syria, under the patronage of Patriarch Estephan El Douaihy (1670–1704).
The tourism industry in Lebanon has been important to the local economy historically and comprises a major source of revenue for the country.
Istifan al-Duwayhi or Estephan El Douaihy was the 57th Patriarch of the Maronite Church, serving from 1670 until his death. He was born in Ehden, Lebanon.
Kfarsghab in Zgharta District in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon predates Christianity. However, like most villages in the Qadisha valley, Kfarsghab's history began with the settlement of the Maronites in Mount Lebanon during the 10th century. According to the popular tradition, the church of Saint Awtel was built on the ruins of a pagan temple. Pagan temples existed in this region as attested in the Greek inscription mentioning the date 272 AD found in the Mar Mama church in Ehden. Other temples may have existed in the region, such as the monastery of Mar Sarkis and Bakhos in Ehden, which may have been built atop ruins. Given the exceptional location of Saint Awtel's Church built on a promontory, the popular tradition about the existence of a pagan temple in Kfarsghab is plausible.
Salim Bey Karam, born on May 21, 1946, in Zgharta, Lebanon was a Minister of State in the Lebanese government. He was a Member of the 2009-2017 Parliament for the Maronite seat of Zgharta in North Lebanon.
Jacob IV Aouad was a former Eparch of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Tripoli and the 59th Maronite Patriarch of Antioch from 1705 to his death in 1733. In Latin he is called Iacobus Petrus Evodius Hasruensis.
Gabriel II of Blaouza, was the 58th Maronite Patriarch of Antioch from 1704 to his death in 1705.
The House of El Douaihy, is an important Lebanese and Levantine noble family of French origins of which can be traced up until the 7th century. The first prominent feudal northern Lebanese Maronite Sheikhs (Lords) to have governed Zgharta and Ehden, in northern Lebanon came from the Douaihy clan.
