Amioun ( ar, أميون, translit=Amyūn, gr, Αμιούν) is the capital of the predominantly

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

Koura District Koura District ( ar, ٱلْكُورَة, from gr, χώρα, lit=country) is a district in the North Governorate, Lebanon. Koura is one of the 26 districts of Lebanon, particularly known for its olive tree cultivation and olive oil production. ...

(i.e. χώρα, "country" in Greek) in the north of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Etymology

The town of Amioun derives its name from the Aramaic language, meaning "'am Yawan" "place of the Greeks", with a possible alternative root ''fortified town''. Amioun is located on the top of an ancient hill dating back to before the 2nd millennium B.C., and the town was called "Amia" during this period. The word ''Amia'' was cited in the letters of Tell el Amarna, which were sent in the 14th century B.C. by local governors to their overlords, the

pharaohs Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. In his etymological study of the names of Lebanon's towns and villages, historian

Anis Freiha Anis Freiha was a Lebanese author who has written extensively about Lebanese traditional village life. Life He was born in the town of Ras el Matn, Mount Lebanon, and studied at the American University of Beirut AUB, and at the University of Ch ...

asserted that ''Amia'' is in turn derived from the Semitic word ''emun'', meaning "invincible fort".

Demographics

Amioun has a population of 10,658. Almost all the residents are followers of the

Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch ( el, Ελληνορθόδοξο Πατριαρχείο Αντιοχείας), also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East ( ar ...

. Amioun is the largest

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

town in

, and 4th-largest in all of the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

after

Mhardeh Maharda ( ar, محردة, Maḥarda, ), also spelled Mhardeh or Muhardah, is a city in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located about 23 kilometers northwest of Hama. It is situated along the Orontes River, near t ...

Al-Suqaylabiyah Al-Suqaylabiyah ( ar, السقيلبيه, As Suqailabiya) is a Greek Orthodox Christian Syrian city administratively belonging to Hama Governorate. Al-Suqaylabiyah is located at a height of 220 meters above sea level. According to the 2004 officia ...

and

Kafr Buhum Kafr Buhum ( ar, كفر بهم, Syriac: ܟܟܦܪ ܒܚܡ, ), also known as Kfarbou, is a town in central Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located 9 km southwest of Hama, north Damascus and south of Aleppo. Nearby locali ...

(all in Syria).

Religion

Amioun has thirteen

churches: St. George el Dahleez, St. John al Sheer, Al Sayydeh, St. Sergios, St. Barbara, St. Domitios, St. Marina, St. Phocas, St. Simon, St. George Al-Kafer and St. Gala.

Education

There are three public and two private schools. The

University of Balamand The University of Balamand (UOB; ar, جامعة البلمند) is a private institution, secular in its policies and approach to education. It welcomes faculty, students, and staff from all faiths and national or ethnic origins. The university i ...

is located nearby, 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) north. There is a public library and a private hospital.

Geography

Located in the heart of Northern Lebanon, Amioun is the administrative center of

. Amioun is about 370 meters (1083 feet) above sea level and approximately 78 kilometers away (48.5 miles) north-northeast of

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. It is about 42 kilometers (26 miles) away from the

Cedars of God The Cedars of God ( ar, أرز الربّ ''Arz al-Rabb'' "Cedars of God"), located in the Kadisha Valley of Bsharre, Lebanon, are one of the last vestiges of the extensive forests of the Lebanon cedar that thrived across Mount Lebanon in antiqu ...

and 18 kilometers (11 miles) away from

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

, capital of the North Governorate. Situated between the sea and the mountains, on a chain of beautiful hills that stretch from east to west, Amioun has a distinctive location and a scenic view. Surrounding the hills on which Amioun is situated are olive fields in the north and vineyards, almond orchards, and olive trees in the south. Paved roads, including the Beirut-Cedars main highway, run through those hills. Long ago, when the houses that stretched on those hills were few, Amioun was called “the town of beautiful hills”. Amioun can be reached via the highway that passes through

Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8 ...

Batroun Batroun ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرُون '; Syriac script: ܒܬܪܘܢ ') is a coastal city in northern Lebanon and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the capital city of Batroun District. Etymology The name ''Bat ...

, Chekka, and Kfarhazir. It can also be reached from Tripoli by way of Bohssas, Dahr-al-Ain,

Aaba Aaba ( ar, عابا) is a village in the Koura District of Lebanon, whose inhabitants are Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. ...

, and Bishmizzine. Amioun is also known for its olive trees, which are possibly the oldest in the world, and high grade olive oil.

History

Amioun is a very old settlement whose history can be traced back to the Paleolithic period. This is supported by the number of small caves built in the old city's rocks. In the past years, a number of French and German orientalists – foremost of whom was the Frenchman Ernest Renan – visited it, studied its archaeological sites and wrote about them. The ancient

Semitic peoples Semites, Semitic peoples or Semitic cultures is an obsolete term for an ethnic, cultural or racial group.“The Monuments of Lebanon”, Father Lamens mentions a number of towns, one of which is “Amia” (p. 76). If this connection is correct, Amioun may be considered as the oldest town in the interior of

. Amioun's past has left its mark on different historical periods, whether ancient, medieval, or modern. Some of its monuments can be traced back to a period when different pagan religions prevailed. With the advent of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, the pagan temples in Amioun were eventually transformed into churches.

Landmarks

*Saint George Cathedral: erected over a former temple at the highest populated spot of the town, as mentioned in a circular written by an instructor of history in the official Lebanese schools Choukrallah Al-Nabbout''. (Fig. 1) *Saint John "al-sheer" church: Elevated on a rocky cliff over a number of vaults in the southeastern facade of the cliff. A Triple scene of a Crusaders church (1099–1100) panoramic over the 28 man-made crypts in the facade whose carbon-dating suggests 15,000–24,000 years of age. *The town of Amioun, is known being a site for the Battle of Amioun in 694 A.D. between the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

troops, under the leadership of Murik and Murikian, and some followers of the Monothelite doctrine, as mentioned in the article below by ''Chedid Al-Azar''. During the 20th century, major changes touched local population, which was based on agriculture, mainly olive, olive oil and soap production, and modify it into the highest educated society in Lebanon. This resulted in a huge percentage, almost 30%, of highly educated people, mainly in the medical domain.

Notable people

* Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Famous essayist, scholar, statistician, former trader, and risk analyst) *

Alex Azar Alex Michael Azar II (; born June 17, 1967) is an American attorney, businessman, lobbyist, and former pharmaceutical executive who served as the United States secretary of health and human services from 2018 to 2021. Azar was nominated to his p ...

U.S. Secretary of Health.https://www.hhs.gov/about/leadership/secretary/speeches/2019-speeches/remarks-to-the-american-task-force-for-lebanon.html> * George N. Atiyeh * Salim Saadeh (ex-Member of the Lebanese Parliament) * Salim El Badawi (first entrepreneur in koura district) * Caren Chammas *

Jacques Nasser Jacques Albert Nasser (Arabic: جاك نصر; born 12 December 1947) is a Lebanese Australian American business executive and philanthropist. Known for a management career at Ford Motor Company spanning several decades and continents, from 19 ...

(former CEO of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

) * Jacobo Majluta Azar (former

President of the Dominican Republic The president of the Dominican Republic ( es, Presidente de la República Dominicana) is both the head of state and head of government of the Dominican Republic. The presidential system was established in 1844, following the proclamation of th ...

) * Dr Naim N. Atiyeh (Educator, psychologist, international consultant, professor, dean of the School of Education, UNESCO) *Walid Azar, Philanthropist.

Location

The modern town of Amioun lies on an important archaeological tell. Of major interest are the churches of Mar Jurius (St. George), built on the cellar of a Roman temple, and Mar Fauqa, or St. Phocas, built by local architects during the Crusader period. The entire interior of St. Phocas is covered with Byzantine-style wall paintings of the 12th and 13th centuries. A third church is the modern red-roofed Mar Youhanna (St. John) perched on a rocky cliff with tomb openings on its southeastern facade.Amyoun
. Ikamalebanon.com. Retrieved on 2016-04-29. Near the old town government building, or "Serail," is the Chapel of Marina, an ancient burial vault converted into a chapel.

Churches and monasteries

There are 13 places of Christian worship in Amioun, including churches and monasteries and shrines. Cathedrals *Cathedral of Saint George el Dahleez (Greek Orthodox) Churches *Church of Saint John al Sheer (Greek Orthodox) *Church of Al Sayydeh (Our Lady) (Greek Orthodox) *Church of Saint Sergios (Greek Orthodox) *Church of Saint Barbara (Greek Orthodox) *Church of Saint Domitios (Greek Orthodox) *Church of Saint Margaret of Antioch, Saint Marina (Greek Orthodox) *Church of Saint Phocas (Greek Orthodox) *Church of Saint Gala (Our Lady) (Greek Orthodox) *Church of Simon the Zealot (Greek Orthodox) Monasteries *Monastery of Saint George Al-Kafer (Greek Orthodox) Shrines Cave of Saint Marina (Greek Orthodox) Sacred place of Saint George (Demolished Greek Orthodox Church)

Twin towns and sister cities

Amioun is twinned with: *

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regi ...

, Peloponnese,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Additional information

References

External links

Additional pictures: *http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/amioun.htm Additional references: *https://web.archive.org/web/20070929101210/http://www.amioun.org/ Official site Additional geographical information:
Amioun
Localiban *http://www.fallingrain.com/world/LE/3/Amioun.html * http://www.lebweb.com/site/lebanon-amioun-42222 * https://web.archive.org/web/20070928110236/http://www.lebanonatlas.com/lebanonmajorcities/North/Amioun/index.htm {{Authority control Populated places in the North Governorate Koura District Eastern Orthodox Christian communities in Lebanon Archaeological sites in Lebanon Amarna letters locations Phoenician cities Coloniae (Roman) Roman sites in Lebanon