Ghabat (or Al-Ghabat) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

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 the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

located in the Jurd area of the district of

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 880 ...

in the

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 ...

region, about 74 kilometres 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 ...

. Its inhabitants are predominantly

Maronite Catholic 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 ...

s. Al Ghabat has a dry-summer subtropical

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 ...

with moderate weather throughout the seasons. Summers are hot and dry, while winters are rainy with occasional snow. It is located on the mountains above

at an altitude of 1000 to 1200 metres. It is surrounded by the villages of

Afqa Afqa ( ar, افقا; also spelled ''Afka'') is a village and municipality located in the Byblos District of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, northeast of Beirut in Lebanon. It has an average elevation of 1,200 meters above sea level and a total la ...

and Lassa and is home to 591 people registered on the

electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

Economy

Al Ghabat's main industry is agriculture. The town mainly produces

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

es, grapes and

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

History

The name means forests in

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

. It could also mean

imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

, pressure, strain. 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 ...

it means a dense forest. The biggest resident family is the Karkafi family and its origin dates back to the 19th century when Nassar Gemayel left Bikfaya to a location named Karkafi, next to Lassa village in the Byblos

caza Caza (), the pseudonym of Philippe Cazaumayou (; born 14 November 1941), is a French comics artist. Biography At 18, Cazaumayou started a career in advertising which lasted for ten years, but in 1970 he entered the field of bandes dessinées, ...

and later settled in Al Ghabat.

Sites to visit

* St. John Maroon parish church * The ruins and remains of old constructions situated in the Shawiya area. Ghabat is known mainly for: * Its abundant water (potable and for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

). * The towering mountains surrounding it (in the Shawiya). * Its location at the mouth of the steep

Nahr Ibrahim The Abraham River (, Nahr Ibrahim) also known as Adonis River (), is a small river in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate in Lebanon, with a length of about . The river emerges from a huge cavern, the Afqa Grotto, nearly above sea level before it dr ...

river valley.

Demographics

Ghabat's inhabitants are predominantly

s. The major families of the village are Karkafi, Rahi, Karam, Hatem and Khoueiry. The first municipal council was elected in 2010. Its current president is Bechara Philippe Karkafi.

Institutions

* Municipal Council * Mayor Council * Agricultural Cooperative.

Notable people

* Rima Bechara Philip Karkafi, a former television presenter on Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International LBCI, married to politician Suleiman Frangieh, Jr. She is the founder and president of ''Al Midan'' a non-governmental, non-profit organization, organizing annual cultural and international festival ''Ehdeniyat''. * Bechara Maurice Karkafi, the general director of the bureau of Land Management & Cadastre in the

Ministry of Finance (Lebanon) The Ministry of Finance (MOF; ar, وزارة المالية; french: Ministère des Finances) is a ministry of the government of Lebanon. The following are the Finance Ministers of Lebanon: * Riad El Solh, 25 September 1943 – 3 July 1944 * Hami ...

. He is a member of the executive council of the Maronite League. He is the father-in-law of Hadi Hobeiche.

References

{{Byblos District Populated places in Byblos District Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon