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| State : |
 Lebanon
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| Governorate : | Bekaa | ||
| Coordinates : | 33 ° 50 ′ N , 35 ° 55 ′ E | ||
| Height : | 900 m | ||
| Area : | 19.8 km² | ||
| Residents : | 150,000 (2010) | ||
| Population density : | 7,576 inhabitants per km² | ||
| Time zone : | UTC + 2 | ||
| Mayor : | Assad Zogaib | ||
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Zahlé , also Zahla or Zahleh , Arabic زحلة Zahla , DMG Zaḥla ; is the capital of the Bekaa Governorate in Lebanon . The 150,000 inhabitants are almost exclusively of Christian faith .
location
Zahlé is about 52 kilometers east of Beirut and 7 kilometers north of Chtaura, the junction on the road from Beirut to Damascus , on the eastern slope of the Jebel Sannin. This limits the Bekaa plain to the west. The city is crossed by the Bardaouni River.
climate
The climate in Zahlé is very different from that on the Lebanese coast: it is dry and mild to hot in summer and cold to very cold, including snowfall and frost, in winter. The city owes this climate on the one hand to a height of 1010 meters above sea level , on the other hand to the separation from the coastal region by the mountains.
tourism
At the northern end of the city is the Wadi El-Aarayesh ("Valley of Wine"), where you can enjoy Lebanese cuisine in typical restaurants on both sides of the Bardaouni - especially the mezzé or meza , the typical starter plates . The alcoholic aniseed drink Arak is typically enjoyed with this. Excellent wine and arak are produced in and around Zahlé . The wine cellars in the suburb of Ksara (→ Château Ksara ) are particularly worth seeing . From Zahlé one is in about 30 minutes in the city of Baalbek with its important Roman monuments. The city of Anjar with its Arab monuments is about 15-20 minutes away.
Meaning of the name
There is speculation about the origin of the name. The most plausible theory is that the name is derived from the Arabic word zahala , which means to slide or slide . In fact, landslides occasionally occur in the area of the city, which could have been the origin of the name.
Personalities
- Gregorios Ata (1815-1899) Melkite Catholic Archbishop in Syria , church historian, in 1870 a Council Father at the Vatican I .
- Joseph-Marie Raya (1916–2005), Lebanese Archbishop
- Georges Skandar (1927–2018), Maronite Bishop of Zahlé
- Youhanna Fouad El-Hage (1939–2005), Archbishop
- Najwa Karam (* 1966), Lebanese singer
- Isabel Bayrakdarian (* 1974), Armenian-Canadian opera singer
- Fady Maalouf (* 1979), German-Lebanese singer, 2008 finalist at Deutschland sucht den Superstar
Web links
- http://www.middleeast.com/zahle.htm
- Embassy of Lebanon - Tourism ( Memento from February 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- http://www.focusmm.com/lebanon/zahle_1.htm