Photos from Lebanon

he trip begins at the Mir Amin Palace located in the shouf area of mount Lebanon. The Palace offers beautiful fountains and superb historical experience. It was once the residence of the last Emirs of Lebanon in the 19th century. It has been restored to its glorious past and transformed into a five-stars Hotel in 1965.

The hotel contains 22 spacious suites, each with their own décor and rich fabrics. The hotel is only 40 minutes away from Beirut international airport and minutes away from the beautiful chouf mountains. 20 photos will take you on a short trip around the Palace.

ur next trip is to the shouf natural reserve, it's the largest nature reserve in Lebanon. It spans from Dahr el baidar in the north to the Niha mountain in the south. The Shouf natural reserve constitutes 5% of Lebanon's landscape and is one of the few remaini.ng landscapes that were described in the Old Testament.

The reserve most magnificent attraction is the Cedar tree that spans an area of more than 400 hectars. Cedar tree lasts thousands of years. The oldest one in this reserve is about 3000 year old.

Back in time Cedar trees were grown for their durable (decay-resistant) scented wood. Lebanon Shouf Cedar was most famously used in the construction of King Solomon's temple in Jerusalem provided by King Hiram of Tyre, Lebanon around 1000 BC.

eiteddine "House of faith " Palace is located in a small town in the shouf area . It was considered an architectural masterpiece in the early 19th century. The Palace features colorful marble mosaic floors, decorated ceilin and beautifully designed gardens. Amir Bashir Shihab the 2nd was appointed to rule mount Lebanon and it's then when he started constructing the palace. He brought architects from Damascus, Allepo syria and Italy. The resulting design is a mix of Arabian and Italian Baroque style.

Today part of the palace is open to the public and the other part is reserved for the president's summer residence.

Every Summer, from July to August, Beiteddine Palace hosts the famous Beiteddine Festival. The festival is considered one of the most significant festivals in the middle east. It hosts performances by world renowed performing artists in the area of classical music, dance, theatre, opera, jazz, and modern world music.

To name a few, artists like José Carreras, Phil Collins, Elton John, Mariah Carey, Fairouz, Marcel Khalifé and many others performed in Beiteddine.

25 photos will take you on a short trip around the Beiteddine Palace.

oussa Castle is a museum with a unique story. It was solely built by one person called Moussa. His motivation in building the castle lies in the fact that when he was a kid he was always the subject of mockery by his classmates and his teachers as he was a poor child and always walked barefooted.

His mom once said " Moussa ! make a wish and it will come true". He said " I need a shoe to cover my barefoot " and the mom said " a shoe? ask for something much more significant !" and he said " a castle" his mom replied " you shall have two castles! ". After his conversation with his mom, he started drawing castles on his notebook. The school teacher saw all the castle drawings and thought that Moussa was an idiot and started beating him and teared his drawing into pieces.

Fast forward many years Moussa never forgot his childhood bitter experience and always wanted to build a castle. He finally realized his dreams after he spent 60 years building the castle with his own hands. A dream comes true.

27 photos will take you on a short trip around the Moussa Castle.

éléphérique of Jounieh is a Gondola style lift that transport visitors from the meditteranean bay of Jounieh to Our lady of Lebanon shrine in Harissa. The Cable car goes up an elevation of 650 m in 9 minutes after passing along a steep hill covered with pine forest.

At the destination you will find a statue of the virgin Marry that is made out of 15 tons of bronze and painted in white. From the shrine the visitors are exposed to magnificent panoramic views of the meditteranean ocean and the neighboring cities.

19 photos will take you on a short trip to Harissa via Téléphérique Jounieh.

akluk is a beautiful summer-winter resort town located at a varying elevation between 1750 to 2000 meters. It's about 1 hour and a half drive from beirut and 60 km from the airport. In the winter it's skier and snowboarder's paradise.

18 photos will take you on a short summer trip to Lakluk.

as El Matn is a town in Lebanon located on a moutain top with varying elevation between 800 to 1000 m. it's known for it's panoramic views and pine trees.

Ras El Matn is approached from the capital beirut by traversing the city of Mkales-Mansourieh-Monteverde moutain along an 11km of beautiful windy road. The road cuts through the pine forest passing the Jaramani river and Kortada village.

59 photos will take you on a trip to explore the people and the village of Ras El Matn.

read making is a way of life. The following set of photos will show you a traditional way of baking the dough on a hot parabolic iron dish called Saj. Thin and slender pine woods with dry pine leaves form the fire source under the Saj.

The baking process is all natural, using no gas, no oil, only burning materials that nature don't need.There you have it , a delicious crispy bread that will bring you closer to nature.

17 photos will show you the bread baking process in the village of Ras El Matn.

eir El Qamar which means "Monastery of the Moon", is a town in the Shouf area. It was the home of the Lebanese governors during the 18-19 th century period. This town has a distinct mixture of sixteenth century building and nineteenth century brick houses, and is known for its well preserved architecture, walled gardens as well as its charming streets and corners.

8 photos will show you around the village of Deir El Qamar.

alougha is a quiet and serene village in Mount Lebanon located away from the city hustle and bustle. It's an ideal summer resort and home for the first Lebanese flag that was erected on its mountain. The origin of the name Falougha is Syriac and means "divide" symbolizing the two winter rivers that divide the village.

19 photos will show you around Falougha village.

eir El kalaa, located on the highest hill in Beit Mery, holds ruins from Phoenician, Byzantine and Roman era. The Romans and the Byzantines chose this location as a base for their colonies because of its strategic location and panoramic views of the capital Beirut.

8 photos will show you around Deir El Kalaa.