.jpg)
The Qadisha Valley is a valley that lies within the Becharre
and Zgharta Districts of the North Governorate of Lebanon. The valley is a deep
gorge carved by the Kadisha River, also known as the Nahr Abu Ali when it
reaches Tripoli. Kadisha means "Holy" in Aramaic, and the valley,
sometimes called the Holy Valley, has sheltered Christian monastic communities
for many centuries.
The long, deep Qadisha Valley is located at the foot of
Mount al-Makmal in northern Lebanon. Through it the Holy River, Nahr Qadisha,
runs for 35km from its source in a cave (grotto) a little way below the Forest
of the Cedars of God. The sides of the valley are steep cliffs that contain
many caves, often at more than 1000m and all difficult of access. The most
scenic section of the valley stretches for approximately twenty kilometers
between Bsharri, the hometown of Kahlil Gibran, and Tourza. It is here also that the Holy River, Nahr Qadisha, flows,
its source being in a sacred mountain celebrated in the Scriptures.
The Qadisha Valley’s many natural caves have been used as
shelters and for burials back as far as the Palaeolithic period. The Aassi
Hauqqa (cave) in particular, near Hawqa, Lebanon, has yielded archaeological
items indicating Palaeolithic, Roman, and medieval periods of use.
Since the early centuries of Christianity the Holy Valley
has served as a refuge for those in search of solitude. Historians believe that
the Kadisha Valley has had monastic communities continuously since the earliest
years of Christianity. It was also at times a destination for Muslim mystics,
or Sufis, who also visited it for meditation and solitude.
Early Christian communities fleeing persecution found refuge
in the Kadisha. Among these groups were the Jacobites (Syrian Orthodox),
Melchites (Greek Orthodox), Nestorians, Armenians, and even Ethiopians. The
Maronites, however, are the dominant Christian group in the valley. From the
late 7th century, Maronites fled to the valley from their original areas of
settlement in the Levante. At that time, they feared persecution from the
Jacobites, who were non-Chalcedonian, and who persecuted Chalcedonian Maronites,
and from Islamic attacks. Maronite settlement intensified in the 10th century
following the destruction of the Monastery of St Maron. The Maronite monks
established their new center at Qannubin, in the heart of the Qadisha, and
monasteries quickly spread over the surrounding hills. Early Maronite
settlement in the valley combined both community and eremitic life.
The Mameluk sultans Baibars and Qalaoun led campaigns in
1268 and 1283, respectively, against the fortress-caves, monasteries, and the
surrounding villages. Despite these attacks, the Deir Qannubin monastery was to
become the seat of the Maronite Patriarch in the 15th century and to remain so
for 500 years. In the 17th century, the Maronite monks’ reputation for piety
was such that many European poets, historians, geographers, politicians, and
clergy visited and even settled in the Valley. The first printing press in the
Middle East was built in 1610 at the Monastery of Qozhaya in the Kadisha
valley. It used Syriac characters. Also this printing press was the first to
print in the Arabic language.
The Kadisha (Holy) Valley is the site of some of the most
ancient Christian monastic communities of the Middle East. The valley’s natural
caves, being comfortless, scattered, and difficult to access, provided monks
and hermits sufficiently isolated and inhospitable conditions to live out
Christian solitude, contemplation, and devotion. Many of the caves and
irregularities in the cliff-sides were adapted to serve as individual dwellings
(cells), chapels, and monasteries, and such buildings were further carved out
of the cliff faces of the valley. Some have interiors covered with frescoes and
facades. Around the caves there are terraced fields made by the hermits for
growing grain, grapes, and olives.
