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THE CEDARS
OF LEBANON are an integral part of the history of the country,
just as the antique cities of Byblos, Tyre and Baalbek. They
date back to antiquity, when the Phoenicians were exporting
cedar-wood to the pharaohs from the apparently inexhaustible
forests which at the time covered the upper reaches of the mountains.
The wood was not only used for construction but more especially
for nobler purposes; this was the sacred wood of the gods and
used to honour the dead, a task to which the people of the ancient
Orient attached deep importance.
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The
cedars of today are very few in number because they have
been overexploited, but their isolation gives them even
greater majesty, evoking some awesome presence in the
pure silence of the mountain peaks, standing strong under
the snow amid sparkling cascades or locked in a grim struggle
against the desolation of bare rock.
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Hundreds
of young Cedar trees have been planted around the area during
the last 30 years, but since they only grow at a rate of 1 cm
every year, it will be many generations before these saplings
reach the impressive size of those in the forest.
In addition to the Cedar forest, there are a number of sites
of interest in the area. |
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The town of Bsharri is best known as the birth place and
resting place of Gibran Khalil Gibran, Lebanon's most
famous mystic poet, artist and novelist. The Gibran Museum
a converted monastery houses his paintings, drawings,
and personal effects, as well as his casket. The town
also has three churches and a waterfall.
For more info please visit:
Ministry
of Tourism |
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