Douma ( ar, دوما, Dūmā) is a village in Lebanon located 80 km from Beirut, 30 km from Byblos and 45 km 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 t ...

. Douma is administratively part of Batroun District and is known for its location in a valley surrounded by mountains. It stands at an altitude of 1070 m. Almost all of its houses are covered in red tiles. It has a temperate climate and an abundance of vineyards and olive and apple groves.

History

Douma was populated since ancient times. In the town square sits a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

, bearing a Greek inscription recording that this was the burial place of Castor, who died in 317 AD. The village was almost abandoned until the 16th century, during Ottoman rule, when the modern village was founded by the Greek Orthodox Christian clan of the Chalhoub. The family continues to inhabit the village until the present day. In 1880 the Ottoman mutasarrif of Mount Lebanon, Rustum Pasha, appointed a municipal council to administer Douma, the sixth locality to receive a council in Mount Lebanon. Douma, rue avec arbres

The Great Famine of Mount Lebanon during World War I precipitated a wave of emigrants from Douma to the

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

s and their remittances significantly contributed to boosting the village's economy. Most infrastructure and houses in Douma were built between 1881 and 1914, largely financed by emigrants from the village in Brazil, Argentina and the United States of America. In the 1920s, the leaders of Syria who had just rebelled against the French Mandatory rule, were detained and exiled to Douma of Lebanon. One of those leaders was

Sa’dallah al-Jabiri Saadallah Al Jabiri ( ar, سعد الله الجابري; 1893–1947) was a Syrian Arab politician, a two-time prime minister and a two-time Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Syria. Jabiri was exiled by the French authorities to t ...

who was destined to become Syria's first Prime Minister after its independence in the 1940s. Another one was a main author of Syria's constitution: lawyer Safadi.

Name

Douma is also named ''Dūma al-Hadīd'' (literally "Douma of iron" or "Iron Douma") due to the abundance of iron found in its soil and the superior craftsmanship of its blacksmiths. The arming industry established under Ibrahim Pasha's rule encouraged many people from

Choueir Dhour El Choueir ( ar, ضهور الشوير), sometimes Dhour Shweir, is a mountain town in Lebanon ('dhour' meaning 'summit, top f a mountain) located in the Matn District. It lies slightly north of the main Beirut - Damascus highway, overlooki ...

to come and settle in Douma since opportunities of work were plentiful at the time.

Climate

Douma has a Mediterranean climate. Rainfall is higher in winter than in summer. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is Csa. The average annual temperature in Douma is . About of precipitation falls annually.

History

Name

Climate

Twin towns

References

External links