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Deir al-Qamar
Deir al-Qamar (Arabic: دَيْر الْقَمَر, romanized: Dayr al-qamar, lit. 'Monastery of the moon') is a city south-east of Beirut in south-central Lebanon. It is located five kilometres outside of Beit ed-Dine in the Chouf District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate at 800 m of average altitude.
The oldest written reference to Deir el Qamar (Deir elcamar or Deir elchamar) goes back to 1257 and 1261 in the deeds of Julian of Shouf and Andrew of Chouf selling their lands and villages in their lordship of Chouf to the Teutonic Order as reported in Tabulae Ordinis Theutonici.
During the 16th to 18th centuries, Deir al-Qamar was the capital and the residence of the Emirate of Mount Lebanon. It is also notable for its 15th-century Fakhreddine Mosque, Fakhreddine II Palace, and the palace of the Emir Yusuf Shihab - today housing the Municipal Council. A 17th-century synagogue is still standing in the village, although closed to the public. During its peak, the city was the centre of Lebanese literary tradition.
European travellers in the early nineteenth century often described Mount Lebanon through orientalist and exoticizing imagery, reflecting contemporary European attitudes toward the region. Lady Hester Stanhope visiting Deir al-Qamar in 1812 wrote “I have traveled for nine hours together & never found a place to pitch a tent, except near one Village. The Vineyards are like stair cases, & every little flat place stuffed with mulberry trees for the silkworms, the roads are horrible, & the people savage & extraordinary, the women wearing a great tin trumpet on their heads & a veil suspended upon it, & seemingly very proud of these frightful horns.”
It was the first village in Lebanon to have a municipality in 1864, and it is the birthplace of many well known personalities, such as artists, writers, and politicians. It was the winter capital of the Druze Qaim-Maqamate of Lebanon (1840–1860), the summer capital being Baakleen. People from all religious backgrounds lived there and the town had a mosque, synagogue and Christian churches.
In the year 1860, Deir al-Qamar was destroyed during the civil war between Druze and Christians during which the town was set ablaze. Napoleon III sent a French contingent to rebuild it, recalling France ancient role as protector of the Christians in the Ottoman Empire as established by a treaty in 1523.
In 1864, Deir el-Qamar elected the first municipality in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire.
A census undertaken in Deir al-Qamar by the Ottomans during the reign of Fakhr-al-Din II's father, Qorqmaz bin-Maan, counted 156 men, all Druze. Today, 85% of Deir al-Qamar's inhabitants are Maronites and 14% are Melkites.
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Deir al-Qamar
Deir al-Qamar (Arabic: دَيْر الْقَمَر, romanized: Dayr al-qamar, lit. 'Monastery of the moon') is a city south-east of Beirut in south-central Lebanon. It is located five kilometres outside of Beit ed-Dine in the Chouf District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate at 800 m of average altitude.
The oldest written reference to Deir el Qamar (Deir elcamar or Deir elchamar) goes back to 1257 and 1261 in the deeds of Julian of Shouf and Andrew of Chouf selling their lands and villages in their lordship of Chouf to the Teutonic Order as reported in Tabulae Ordinis Theutonici.
During the 16th to 18th centuries, Deir al-Qamar was the capital and the residence of the Emirate of Mount Lebanon. It is also notable for its 15th-century Fakhreddine Mosque, Fakhreddine II Palace, and the palace of the Emir Yusuf Shihab - today housing the Municipal Council. A 17th-century synagogue is still standing in the village, although closed to the public. During its peak, the city was the centre of Lebanese literary tradition.
European travellers in the early nineteenth century often described Mount Lebanon through orientalist and exoticizing imagery, reflecting contemporary European attitudes toward the region. Lady Hester Stanhope visiting Deir al-Qamar in 1812 wrote “I have traveled for nine hours together & never found a place to pitch a tent, except near one Village. The Vineyards are like stair cases, & every little flat place stuffed with mulberry trees for the silkworms, the roads are horrible, & the people savage & extraordinary, the women wearing a great tin trumpet on their heads & a veil suspended upon it, & seemingly very proud of these frightful horns.”
It was the first village in Lebanon to have a municipality in 1864, and it is the birthplace of many well known personalities, such as artists, writers, and politicians. It was the winter capital of the Druze Qaim-Maqamate of Lebanon (1840–1860), the summer capital being Baakleen. People from all religious backgrounds lived there and the town had a mosque, synagogue and Christian churches.
In the year 1860, Deir al-Qamar was destroyed during the civil war between Druze and Christians during which the town was set ablaze. Napoleon III sent a French contingent to rebuild it, recalling France ancient role as protector of the Christians in the Ottoman Empire as established by a treaty in 1523.
In 1864, Deir el-Qamar elected the first municipality in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire.
A census undertaken in Deir al-Qamar by the Ottomans during the reign of Fakhr-al-Din II's father, Qorqmaz bin-Maan, counted 156 men, all Druze. Today, 85% of Deir al-Qamar's inhabitants are Maronites and 14% are Melkites.
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