Bekaa Kafra, Where It All Began

Bekaa Kafra sits at about 1,800 meters above sea level in the Becharreh district of North Lebanon - the highest village in the country. Its name is Syriac: bekaa, ground, and kafra, rich - "rich soil." It overlooks the holy valley of Qannoubine, which sheltered twenty-four Maronite patriarchs between 1440 and 1823 along with generations of hermits and monks, and it neighbors the Cedars of God. The village's own history reaches back at least to the tenth century by the historian Fouad Boustany Ephram's account, and its houses still keep their modest old architecture.

Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born here on May 8, 1828, the youngest of five children of Antoun Zaarour Makhlouf and Brigitta Chidiac. His father died when he was about three, and the boy grew up in this house - tending the family's small flock, praying, living the ordinary life of a poor mountain village. The house still stands and is kept as a place of pilgrimage; during the week of Saint Charbel's feast in July, the street leading to it fills with an exhibition of homemade products prepared by the villagers.

The village church where the newborn Makhlouf was baptized is itself ancient - built sometime between the seventh and thirteenth centuries, in the long era when this valley was the heart of Maronite life. A second church, Notre-Dame, was built in 1925, and the village also keeps the convent of Saint Eusebius.

Above the village is a small grotto where the boy Youssef used to withdraw to pray - the first hermitage, in a sense, of a man who would spend his last twenty-three years in another one. Pilgrims climb to it as the opening chapter of a story that continues at the hermitage of Annaya.

In 1851, at twenty-three, Youssef left the village for the Monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouk, then Saint Maron of Annaya, taking the religious name Charbel after a second-century martyr of the Antiochene Church. He never returned to live in Bekaa Kafra - but the village never stopped claiming him. Today its people, in the words of one account, consider themselves the relatives of the saint known in the four corners of the earth. The full timeline of the life that began here is on our history page.

Religious tourism is the village's life. Several mountain roads lead in: from Shekka via Amioune and Hadath el Jebbeh, from Tripoli through Koura and Hadath el Jebbeh, from Ehden and Bcharre, or over the top past the Cedars. Most pilgrims pair Bekaa Kafra with Annaya - the birthplace in the morning, the tomb and hermitage in the afternoon; our guide to visiting Annaya has the practical details for that half of the day. Mountain weather is real at 1,800 meters: check conditions before setting out in winter.

Where is Bekaa Kafra?

In the Becharreh district of North Lebanon, at about 1,800 meters above sea level - the highest village in Lebanon. It overlooks the Qannoubine valley and neighbors the Cedars of God.

Why is Bekaa Kafra famous?

It is the birthplace of Saint Charbel Makhlouf (May 8, 1828), Lebanon's most beloved saint. His family home, baptism church, and childhood prayer grotto are all preserved there.

Can you visit Saint Charbel's house in Bekaa Kafra?

Yes. The Makhlouf family home is kept as a place of pilgrimage, and the street to it hosts a festival exhibition during the week of his July feast.

How high is Bekaa Kafra?

About 1,800 meters above sea level, making it the highest village in Lebanon - plan for real mountain weather, especially in winter.

How do I get to Bekaa Kafra?

By mountain road from Shekka or Tripoli via Hadath el Jebbeh, from Ehden and Bcharre, or over the top past the Cedars. Most pilgrims combine it with a visit to Annaya the same day.

• LebanonUntravelled: Bekaa Kafra, the highest village in Lebanon - altitude, etymology, churches, the saint's house and grotto, access roads
• Discover Lebanon: the village of Bkaa Kafra and the places of Saint Charbel
• Monastery of Saint Maron, Annaya: the saint's life from birth in Bekaa Kafra to death at the hermitage