Damour ( ar, الدامور) is a Lebanese

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

town that is south 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 ...

. The name of the town is derived from the name of the

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n god Damoros who symbolized immortality ( in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

). Damour also remained the capital of

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

for three centuries.

Geography

The city is located in one of the few flat areas of the Lebanese coast. It is built to the north of the river, the ancient Tamyrus, which bears its name on a dune overlooking the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. It is surrounded by plantations of bananas and vegetable crops. It has an area of . The

- Tyre Highway separates the plantations. Now dismantled, the track is a stopover.

Climate

Damour has a mild

mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''Csa'').

Churches

There exist six churches in Damour, of which Notre-Dame de Damour and St Élias are the biggest. There are also three other chapels, including Sainte Thècle, St Michel, which was the first church in Damour, St Maroun, which is under reconstruction, and St Joseph. These six churches are all

Maronite Church The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The current head of the Maro ...

es. Before the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

, Damour had another

Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, Savior's Church. Most of the population is Maronite Catholic

Tourism

Because Damour is one of the few cities of the Lebanese coast having a sand beach, and since it is ten minutes from

, Damour attracts tourists and especially

water sports Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a s ...

enthusiasts. Thus several restaurants, coffees and snacks are located along the beach. There are also a few restaurants at the edges of the

Damour river Damour river or (, Nahr Al Damour) is a coastal river in the Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon. The river's headwaters originate in and around the slopes of the 1943-meter peak Jabal el-Barouk, site of a nature preserve where some of Lebanon' ...

History

In the 19th century, Damour was the a flourishing center of the

Chouf Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf, in ''Jabal ash-Shouf''; french: La Montagne du Chouf) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate (muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon. Geography Located south-east ...

region. Its plain was then planted with mulberry and had twelve large manufacturing companies. Ten thousand workers and technicians worked in the natural silk industry. The city has a real fascination for the Lebanese worker and attracts the largest majority of the natives in the Sahel region. During the last centuries, Damour was located on the central axis of fighting and successive wars. In

1302 Year 1302 ( MCCCII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Co-Emperor Michael IX (Palaiologos) launches a campaign which r ...

, after the

Mamluks Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...

took

Arwad Arwad, the classical Aradus ( ar, أرواد), is a town in Syria on an eponymous island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative center of the Arwad Subdistrict (''nahiyah''), of which it is the only locality.Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

forces committed a

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

of the people. During the nights of the first world war, inhabitants met the armoured French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc sailors and received medicines, food and other needed supplies. In 1941, Damour was the French administrative capital. The city being a strategic crossing point on the road to

, 21 July 1941, was the place of one of the battles that affected Lebanon during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Syria-Lebanon Campaign. Australian troops, progressing towards the North along the coast, took Damour, held by the French Foreign Legion, faithful to the Vichy Government. A cease-fire was concluded at the end of the battle. There were no more obstacles in the direction of Beirut. In 1942, South African army engineers built a railway line from Haifa to Beirut along the coast and Australian engineers continued the line to Tripoli. The line is no longer in use. On January 9, 1976, Palestinians laid siege to the city. On January 20, 1976, thousands of Palestinians committed a massacre of the inhabitants. See

Damour Massacre The Damour massacre took place on January 21, 1976, during the 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War. Damour, a Maronite Christian town on the main highway south of Beirut, was attacked by the left-wing militants of the Palestine Liberation Organisatio ...

. During Israeli invasion of 1982, the Israeli air force bombed the city which was under the control of the Palestinian militias. During the Israeli conflict of 2006, the Israeli air force destroyed several bridges on Highway

- Tyre and on the Damour River.

The Historical Bridge

The history of the archeological bridge dates back to the era of prince-Béchir Shehab who had a great interest in it, it was considered a strategic and important transit point between Mt Lebanon and the South.

Neighborhoods

* Mar Thecla El Naame * Mar Mikhael Al Damour * Khiyam Al Damour * Saadiyat * Ghandouriyeh * Missiar

Notable People

* Ghada Georges Aoun *

Elie Saab Elie Saab ( ar, إيلي صعب; born 4 July 1964) is a Lebanese fashion designer. His main workshop is in Lebanon, with additional workshops in Milan and Paris. He started his business in the early 1980s and specialized in bridal couture (ex ...

*Nassib Al Matni (Journalist killed 1958) *

Michel Aoun Michel Naim Aoun ( ar, ميشال نعيم عون ; born 30 September 1933) is a Lebanese politician and former military general who served as the President of Lebanon from 31 October 2016 until 30 October 2022. Born in Haret Hreik to a Mar ...

Georges Akl Georges Akl is a Lebanese painter, born in Damour. Career He is noted for his colorful watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of ...

* Rose Ghorayeb - renowned Lebanese author and literary critic * Michel Farid Ghrayeb * Georges Asaad Aoun *Aziz Al Matni (Journalist/writer) * Marwan Al Matni (Journalist) * Said Ghorayeb (Journalist/Television Presenter) * Michel Azzi (Television Presenter) * Michel Azzi (Singer) * Nadine Saab (Singer) * Joseph Hashem - Zaghloul al-Damour (Zajal Poet) * Geryes Boustani (Zajal Poet) * Mario Aoun (Minister) * Dani Fadel (Scientific Researcher)

Gallery

Janna Sur Mer Resort in Damour, Lebanon.jpg Jisr el Qadi - bridge over the River Damour.jpg

References

Bibliography

Robert Fisk Robert Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was a writer and journalist who held British and Irish citizenship. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. His stanc ...

, '' Pity the Nation'', André Deutsch Ltd. 1990,

External links

Damour
Localiban {{Authority control Populated places in Chouf District Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon