Jounieh
Encyclopedia
Jounieh is a Mediterranean coastal city about 16 kilometers north of Beirut
, Lebanon
. Jounieh is known for its seaside resorts, pubs, restaurants and nightclubs, as well as its old stone souk
, ferry, and cablecar
(le télphérique
), which takes passengers up the mountain to the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon
in Harissa
. Above Jounieh, and on the way to Harissa
, a small hill named Bkerke (Arabic
بكركي, or Bkerki), overlooking the Jounieh bay, is the seat of the Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church. Residents of Jounieh and the surrounding towns are overwhelmingly Christian Maronites. Consequently, Jounieh is considered to be the largest Christian
Maronite city in the world. The Bay of Jounieh is considered to be among the most beautiful bays in the world.
In the sixth part of The Introduction to Jounieh in the Mid Nineteenth Century, Professor Butrus Al-Boustani
said: “Jounieh is a place on the Keserwan
coast which has warehouses, stores, and a dye house. Ships and boats bring supplies and its grain trade is very popular. Thus a district of the following villages: Sarba, Ghadir, and Harat Sakhr was named for it. Its total population is 2,500. Jounieh itself is not a residential area but mainly a commercial district whose workers come from neighboring towns.”
Jounieh was connected with neighboring areas by roads built for carriages. So it was connected with Bikirki and beyond it during the rule of Dawud Basha, the ruler of Mount Lebanon
. It was connected to Ghazir between 1867 and 1868 despite the objection of Ghazir’s residents. Another road connected Jounieh to the Beirut Bridge during the rule of Rustum Basha. To the north it was connected by a carriage’s road until Batroun
during the rule of Wasa Basha (1883–1892). In 1892, Jounieh was connected to Beirut
via a railroad that had stations between the two locations, three of which in Jounieh and its environs: Sarba, Jounieh, and Mu’amilitain at the end of the line, which facilitated the transportation of goods and passengers from and to the Governorate of Beirut. In 1876, the number of shops exceeded 300, five silk factories, three rest houses, a mill, three juice factories, an artificial ice factory, a bank known by its owner's name "Bank Baghos", and a group of small sailboat construction sites.
In 1906, according to the Guide to Lebanon by Ibrahim Beik Al-Soud, the population of Jounieh was 2,400, and it had a silk factory owned by the Nasras, a silkworms choker owned by Moussa de Franj, a silk factory owned by the heirs of Rizkallah and Abdul Ahad Khadra which had 190 wheels and produced 10,000 cocoons, 330 domestic animals, and owned 80 carriages.
According to the records of the Kiserwan Governorate, the town of Ghadir, in 1914, had 433 corporations and its population was 1,263. The town of Sarba had 213 commercial institutions and its population was 1,714. In Harat Sakhr, there were 165 corporations and its population was 808. In Sahil ‘Alma, there were 21 corporations its population reached 187. Jounieh had seen noticeable prosperity after France and the Maronite Patriarchy supported the opening a port for commercial ships which became (with the Al-Nabi Younes Port on the Chouf Coast) the official port of Mount Lebanon.
In 1913 and during the Mandate era, Jounieh suffered economic decline and recession as the French administration moved part of Jounieh’s administrative role to the Capital, Beirut. Also Jounieh came out of the First World War weakened by famine and economic stagnation. So several of its inhabitants were forced to move to the capital or to immigrate, and Jounieh lost most of its expertise. Its social and population development stopped, and its economic development weakened. The 1932 statistics showed 1,286 housed in Jounieh: 371 in Sarba, 434 in Ghadir, 350 houses in Harat Sakhr, and 131 in Sahil ‘Alma. This affected the building industry and records in the town hall showed very limited number of permits given from 1922-1940. The only active sectors in that period were schools, small crafts, and planting of citrus trees, sugar cane, and vegetables. This situation stayed the same until the rule of President Fouad Shihab who outfitted the city with all that it needed to become modern. Jounieh then awakened from its slumber with projects for roads, lighting, modern planning, a stadium, a tourist port, a government house, and infrastructure. President Shihab used a number of experts and engineers headed by the French engineer Ekochar. The talk became of “Monte Carlo of the East” and Jounieh stood out as a bride of the Lebanese coast. In 1959, it started to attract banks, the first which were the Lebanese Commerce Bank and the Lebanese Federal Bank. By 1975 the number of banks reached six and today there are 38 banks in addition to the Lebanese Central Bank which was established in 1879
jounieh.jpg)
The area also witnessed an increase in the price of land from an average of seven to nine Lebanese pounds per square meter between 1950 and 1960 to an average of 25 to 35 Lebanese pounds in 1965.
The construction sector developed slowly starting from Sarba to Harat Sakhr, and finally the coast of ‘Alma. The buildings also started expanding around the city as the agricultural sector contracted and became confined to the coasts of Kaslik and some orchards in Ghadir, Harat Sakhr and the coast of ‘Alma. In the beginning of the seventies, Jounieh was transformed to a major and complete tourist center with the tourist network around it and on its edges including: Casino du Liban
, the cable cars, the Harisa Church, the caverns in Jeita
, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, and the port.
With the war of 1975, and the division of Beirut into East and West parts and the escalation of the violence, many people fled to safe areas and were organizing their lives in accordance with the new realities.
From 1980 to 1990, Jounieh witnessed a massive migration as a large number of the Beirut traders moved to its markets. Buildings took over its green spaces, and the tourist complexes took over its shores. So its features changed randomly though it benefited from the use of the tourist port for commerce.
In 1990, when fighting stopped, Jounieh was no longer a small city where the humming of water is heard, and houses with red-tiled roofs are surrounded by dreamy orchards but it became a coastal city crowded with people in forests of cement without a beach for the waves to spread.
Jounieh in the beginning of the twenty first century looks reasonably and confidently ahead, leaving behind it memories of a century in which it expanded before its time.
Today, close to 108 thousand voters reside in Jounieh. Those who live in its towns and suburbs exceed 200,000. By the middle of the century, Jounieh will become a suburb of Beirut in a costal line that forms one city that expands the length of the coastal road at a time when the inhabitants of Lebanon will reach six million around the year 2025.
Casino du Liban offers gaming and shows and is located in the northern part of Jouniyeh.
Lebanese Heritage Museum displays items related to the culture and history of Lebanon.
The téléphérique is a gondola lift
that operates between Jounieh and Harissa
. It offers the passengers beautiful panoramic views of the bay of Jounieh and the coast all the way to Beirut
.
, Monaco Gustavia, Saint Barthelemy, France Las Vegas, Nevada
, USA
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. Jounieh is known for its seaside resorts, pubs, restaurants and nightclubs, as well as its old stone souk
Souk
A souq is a commercial quarter in an Arab, Berber, and increasingly European city. The term is often used to designate the market in any Arabized or Muslim city, but in modern times it appears in Western cities too...
, ferry, and cablecar
Gondola lift
A gondola lift is a type of aerial lift, normally called a cable car, which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal,...
(le télphérique
Téléphérique (Jounieh)
The Téléphérique, owned and operated by Compagnie Libanaise du Telepherique et d' Expansion Touristique SAL, is a gondola lift, a cable-car system located in Jounieh, a city in Lebanon 16 km north of Beirut...
), which takes passengers up the mountain to the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon
Our Lady of Lebanon
Our Lady of Lebanon , also known as Notre Dame du Liban, is a marian shrine and a pilgrimage site, honoring the patron saint of the Mediterranean country of Lebanon. The Lebanese Christians as well as the Druze and Muslims have a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary...
in Harissa
Harissa, Lebanon
Harissa is a mountain village in Lebanon. The village, which is located 650 meters above sea level, is home to an important Lebanese pilgrimage site, Our Lady of Lebanon. The village is located 20 km north of Beirut Beirut, and it accessible from the coastal city of Jounieh either by road...
. Above Jounieh, and on the way to Harissa
Harissa, Lebanon
Harissa is a mountain village in Lebanon. The village, which is located 650 meters above sea level, is home to an important Lebanese pilgrimage site, Our Lady of Lebanon. The village is located 20 km north of Beirut Beirut, and it accessible from the coastal city of Jounieh either by road...
, a small hill named Bkerke (Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
بكركي, or Bkerki), overlooking the Jounieh bay, is the seat of the Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church. Residents of Jounieh and the surrounding towns are overwhelmingly Christian Maronites. Consequently, Jounieh is considered to be the largest Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Maronite city in the world. The Bay of Jounieh is considered to be among the most beautiful bays in the world.
History
Butrus al-Bustani
Buṭrus al-Bustānī was a notable writer and scholar from present day Lebanon.-Life:Al-Bustani was born to a Maronite Christian family in the village of Dibbiye in the Chouf region, in January 1819...
said: “Jounieh is a place on the Keserwan
Keserwan District
Keserwan is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate , Lebanon, to the northeast of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...
coast which has warehouses, stores, and a dye house. Ships and boats bring supplies and its grain trade is very popular. Thus a district of the following villages: Sarba, Ghadir, and Harat Sakhr was named for it. Its total population is 2,500. Jounieh itself is not a residential area but mainly a commercial district whose workers come from neighboring towns.”
Jounieh was connected with neighboring areas by roads built for carriages. So it was connected with Bikirki and beyond it during the rule of Dawud Basha, the ruler of Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon , as a geographic designation, is a Lebanese mountain range, averaging above 2,200 meters in height and receiving a substantial amount of precipitation, including snow, which averages around four meters deep. It extends across the whole country along about , parallel to the...
. It was connected to Ghazir between 1867 and 1868 despite the objection of Ghazir’s residents. Another road connected Jounieh to the Beirut Bridge during the rule of Rustum Basha. To the north it was connected by a carriage’s road until Batroun
Batroun
The coastal city of Batroun located in northern Lebanon is one of the oldest cities of the world. Batroun is home to a Lebanese Red Cross First Aid Center.- Etymology :...
during the rule of Wasa Basha (1883–1892). In 1892, Jounieh was connected to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
via a railroad that had stations between the two locations, three of which in Jounieh and its environs: Sarba, Jounieh, and Mu’amilitain at the end of the line, which facilitated the transportation of goods and passengers from and to the Governorate of Beirut. In 1876, the number of shops exceeded 300, five silk factories, three rest houses, a mill, three juice factories, an artificial ice factory, a bank known by its owner's name "Bank Baghos", and a group of small sailboat construction sites.
In 1906, according to the Guide to Lebanon by Ibrahim Beik Al-Soud, the population of Jounieh was 2,400, and it had a silk factory owned by the Nasras, a silkworms choker owned by Moussa de Franj, a silk factory owned by the heirs of Rizkallah and Abdul Ahad Khadra which had 190 wheels and produced 10,000 cocoons, 330 domestic animals, and owned 80 carriages.
According to the records of the Kiserwan Governorate, the town of Ghadir, in 1914, had 433 corporations and its population was 1,263. The town of Sarba had 213 commercial institutions and its population was 1,714. In Harat Sakhr, there were 165 corporations and its population was 808. In Sahil ‘Alma, there were 21 corporations its population reached 187. Jounieh had seen noticeable prosperity after France and the Maronite Patriarchy supported the opening a port for commercial ships which became (with the Al-Nabi Younes Port on the Chouf Coast) the official port of Mount Lebanon.
In 1913 and during the Mandate era, Jounieh suffered economic decline and recession as the French administration moved part of Jounieh’s administrative role to the Capital, Beirut. Also Jounieh came out of the First World War weakened by famine and economic stagnation. So several of its inhabitants were forced to move to the capital or to immigrate, and Jounieh lost most of its expertise. Its social and population development stopped, and its economic development weakened. The 1932 statistics showed 1,286 housed in Jounieh: 371 in Sarba, 434 in Ghadir, 350 houses in Harat Sakhr, and 131 in Sahil ‘Alma. This affected the building industry and records in the town hall showed very limited number of permits given from 1922-1940. The only active sectors in that period were schools, small crafts, and planting of citrus trees, sugar cane, and vegetables. This situation stayed the same until the rule of President Fouad Shihab who outfitted the city with all that it needed to become modern. Jounieh then awakened from its slumber with projects for roads, lighting, modern planning, a stadium, a tourist port, a government house, and infrastructure. President Shihab used a number of experts and engineers headed by the French engineer Ekochar. The talk became of “Monte Carlo of the East” and Jounieh stood out as a bride of the Lebanese coast. In 1959, it started to attract banks, the first which were the Lebanese Commerce Bank and the Lebanese Federal Bank. By 1975 the number of banks reached six and today there are 38 banks in addition to the Lebanese Central Bank which was established in 1879
The area also witnessed an increase in the price of land from an average of seven to nine Lebanese pounds per square meter between 1950 and 1960 to an average of 25 to 35 Lebanese pounds in 1965.
The construction sector developed slowly starting from Sarba to Harat Sakhr, and finally the coast of ‘Alma. The buildings also started expanding around the city as the agricultural sector contracted and became confined to the coasts of Kaslik and some orchards in Ghadir, Harat Sakhr and the coast of ‘Alma. In the beginning of the seventies, Jounieh was transformed to a major and complete tourist center with the tourist network around it and on its edges including: Casino du Liban
Casino du Liban
Casino du Liban is a casino located in Maameltein, Jounieh in Lebanon and is 22 km north of Beirut.With an area of about 35,000 square meters, the casino has around 400 slot machines and 60 gaming tables. It has a showroom, night club, theater, banquet facility and five restaurants. The casino was...
, the cable cars, the Harisa Church, the caverns in Jeita
Jeita Grotto
The Jeita Grotto In 1958, Lebanese speleologists discovered the upper galleries above the lower cave which have been accommodated with an access tunnel and a series of walkways to enable tourists safe access without disturbing the natural landscape. The upper galleries house the world's largest...
, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, and the port.
With the war of 1975, and the division of Beirut into East and West parts and the escalation of the violence, many people fled to safe areas and were organizing their lives in accordance with the new realities.
From 1980 to 1990, Jounieh witnessed a massive migration as a large number of the Beirut traders moved to its markets. Buildings took over its green spaces, and the tourist complexes took over its shores. So its features changed randomly though it benefited from the use of the tourist port for commerce.
In 1990, when fighting stopped, Jounieh was no longer a small city where the humming of water is heard, and houses with red-tiled roofs are surrounded by dreamy orchards but it became a coastal city crowded with people in forests of cement without a beach for the waves to spread.
Jounieh in the beginning of the twenty first century looks reasonably and confidently ahead, leaving behind it memories of a century in which it expanded before its time.
Today, close to 108 thousand voters reside in Jounieh. Those who live in its towns and suburbs exceed 200,000. By the middle of the century, Jounieh will become a suburb of Beirut in a costal line that forms one city that expands the length of the coastal road at a time when the inhabitants of Lebanon will reach six million around the year 2025.
Tourism
- Casino du Liban
Casino du Liban offers gaming and shows and is located in the northern part of Jouniyeh.
- Lebanese Heritage Museum
Lebanese Heritage Museum displays items related to the culture and history of Lebanon.
- Téléphérique
The téléphérique is a gondola lift
Gondola lift
A gondola lift is a type of aerial lift, normally called a cable car, which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal,...
that operates between Jounieh and Harissa
Harissa, Lebanon
Harissa is a mountain village in Lebanon. The village, which is located 650 meters above sea level, is home to an important Lebanese pilgrimage site, Our Lady of Lebanon. The village is located 20 km north of Beirut Beirut, and it accessible from the coastal city of Jounieh either by road...
. It offers the passengers beautiful panoramic views of the bay of Jounieh and the coast all the way to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
.
Twin towns – Sister cities
Jounieh is twinned with: MonacoMonaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, Monaco Gustavia, Saint Barthelemy, France Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, USA