Bekaa Kafra ( ar, بقاع كفرا) is a
Lebanese village located in the
Bsharri District
Bsharri District is one of the 7 districts (''qadaa, قضاء'') of the North Governorate, Lebanon.
Overview and geography
Surrounded by mountains, the Bsharri District sits on cliffs. The district is bordered by the Zgharta and Miniyeh-Danniye ...
in
Northern Lebanon. Bekaa Kafra is located in front of the village of
Bsharri
Bsharri ( ar, بشرّي ''Bšarrī''; syr, ܒܫܪܝ; also Romanized ''Becharre'', ''Bcharre'', ''Bsharre'', (''Bcharre El Arez بشرّي الارز'') is a town at an altitude of about to . It is located in the Bsharri District of the Nort ...
across the
Kadisha Valley
Kadisha Valley ( ar, وادي قاديشا), also romanized as the Qadisha Valley and also known as the Kadisha Gorge or Wadi Kadisha (french: Ouadi Qadisha), is a gorge that lies within the Bsharri and Zgharta Districts of the North Governora ...
. It is the birth town of
Saint Charbel
Charbel Makhlouf, O.L.M. ( ar, شربل مخلوف, May 8, 1828 – December 24, 1898), born Youssef Antoun Makhlouf and venerated as Saint Charbel, was a Maronite monk and priest from Lebanon. During his life, he obtained a wide reputation for ...
. Bekaa Kafra has an altitude ranging from 1500 m to 2000 m at its highest point, making it the highest village in Lebanon and one of the highest in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
.
Etymology
The name Bekaa Kafra comes from the
Syriac language
The Syriac language (; syc, / '), also known as Syriac Aramaic (''Syrian Aramaic'', ''Syro-Aramaic'') and Classical Syriac ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ (in its literary and liturgical form), is an Aramaic language, Aramaic dialect that emerged during ...
and means "mountain crack village"
Climate
Bekaa Kafra has a
temperate climate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
with warm, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. It is cold in winter for two reasons: Its location in Northern Lebanon, and its high altitude. Temperatures in winter average around 0 °C and can reach -10 °C to -30 °C. Temperatures in summer average around 18 °C, but they may reach 20 °C to 25 °C in July and August, but can also drop to as low as 6 °C at night. Snow in winter can accumulate up to 6 meters and occasionally more.
Position
Bekaa Kafra is among the claimants to the status of highest village in Lebanon. Most of its settled is situated approximately 1700 meters above sea level.
External links
Bqaa Kafra Localiban
Bsharri District
Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon
{{Lebanon-geo-stub