Bsharri
Encyclopedia : B : BS : BSH : Bsharri
Bsharri (also spelled Becharre, Bcharre, Bsharre; Arabic: ), at 2500 m of altitude, near the Kadisha Valley. It is located at around , on the north of Mount Lebanon. Bsharri is just under the Cedars forest and is the birthplace of the famous poet, painter and sculptor Khalil Gibran. The name is biblical, meaning ‘milky white’, and refers to the snow-covered cedars of the Lebanon Mountains.
Bsharri was the site of a Phoenician settlement in ancient times. Maronite Christians fleeing persecution were attracted to its mountainous terrain in the 7th Century AD. The valley of Kadisha, below the town, became the spiritual center of the Maronite Church. The town was known as Buissera by the Crusades.
In Lebanon, Bsharri natives are characterized as valiant and fiercely tribal. They are especially known for their distinct accent when they speak Arabic. Unlike other parts of Lebanon, Aramaic was spoken in Bsharri well into the 1800s. As a result, Bsharri natives developed an unmistakably strong accent which lasts to this day.
During the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), Bsharri was a bastion of Christian resistance against Leftist forces. Samir Geagea, became head of the Christian Lebanese Forces (LF) movement in 1986 and is a Bsharri native. Many LF militiamen were drawn from the town during the civil war.
Today, the village is located in a highly touristic zone (Gibran Tomb and Museum, Kadisha Valley, Cedars of Lebanon forest, Ski resort, Bka'kafra (the birthplace of St Charbel).
Bsharri is a possible candidate city for the 2018 Winter Olympics. The Lebanese government is currently debating whether to spend the $1.2 billion from the Sannine Zenith project to build an Olympic Stadium in Bsharri, or in Beirut for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
See also
External links
- [The Official Website For Sannine Zenith]
- [Becharee Youth Club, Sydney]
- [Photos in and around Bsharri]
- [World66]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.