Q'adisha Valley

The following information is provided by Stephen Barber (many thanks!).

The Qadisha, or Holy Valley, is a deep gorge running approximately east-west in central Lebanon. This valley has been a key site of the Maronite Christians since the fifth century, and a place of refuge over many centuries due to its wild, inaccessible geography and its natural caves. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Many of the monasteries, churches and cells that line its steep cliffs are cut into the rock face. Each has its own animus; some are restored, some still retain an earthen floor and rough stone barrel vaulting. Outside, the air is alive with birdsong and hawks soar effortlessly on thermals rising from the valley floor way below. The steepest slopes between the cliffs are thickly wooded with pine, walnut, evergreen, oak and acacia, the less steep have been cut into terraces by generations of Maronite peasants, who still work the land by hand.

Walk the route eastwards between the monasteries of Qozhaya and Qannoubin, via the hermitage of Hawqa and the sanctuary of St Marina. A hermit, of Colombian origin, still occupies Hawqa.

At the head of the valley, just outside Bcharré, is a small but unique stand of ancient Cedars of Lebanon (the Cedars of God), some of which are said to be over three thousand years old.