Bikfaya
Bikfaya ( Arabic بكفيا Bikfaya , DMG Bikfayyā ) is a town in Lebanon District al-Mitn in the government of Lebanon Mountain and is between 900 and 1000 meters above sea level . The place has about 20,000 residents whobelong tovarious Christian denominations, including Maronites , Armenian Apostolic and Greek Orthodox . The place is about 25 kilometers from Beirut and is a popular summer destination due to its proximity to the capital. The place has a healing spring and lives partly from tourism .
The Gemayel family comes from here. A monument is dedicated to Pierre Gemayel , the founder of the Kata'ib . There is also a memorial in the place, which commemorates the victims of the Armenian genocide . The sculpture is reminiscent of a woman who stretches her hands towards the sky.
The place name is probably derived from the Aramaic word for Bait Kefaya and means stone house .
Every year there is a flower festival, which was first organized in 1934 on the initiative of Maurice Gemayel .
There are several church buildings in the village:
- Mar Abda (1587)
- Jesuit residence (1833) with education and retreat house and pilgrimage church
- The Maronite and Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Elias Chwayya (1590)
- The Armenian Apostolic Monastery, summer residence of the Catholic of Cilicia
- Church of the Nativity of Mary
- Church of Saint Michael
Web links
Coordinates: 33 ° 55 ' N , 35 ° 41' E