Kafarakab ( ar, كفرعقاب) (also spelled Kfarakab or Kfar Akab and pronounced "Kfara-ab" 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 ...

) is the francophone spelling of the name of a village in the mountains 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 the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. In Arabic, it means the home (Kfar: كفر) of the hawk (Akab: عقاب). The village, which is located in the

Matn District Matn ( ar, قضاء المتن, '), sometimes spelled Metn (or preceded by the article El, as in El Matn), is a district (''qadaa'') in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon, east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The district capital is Jd ...

of the

Mount Lebanon Governorate french: Gouvernorat du Mont-Liban , native_name_lang = , image_map = Administrative divisions of Lebanon 2017-08 (Numbered).png , map_caption = The governorates of Lebanon, including Mount Lebanon (in pink, label ...

, is of particular significance because it is one of the various historic points of origin of the

Maalouf Maalouf (alternative spellings: Maloof, Malouf, Malouff, Maluf, Malluf; Arabic: معلوف المعلوف) is an Arabic surname. Origins The Maalouf family belongs to the group of tribes known as Ghassanids that emigrated from Yemen to Houra ...

family. It was founded c. 1560 AD when three families of the

clan, living at the time across the valley in the village of Mhaydse, received permission from the ruling emir to establish the village. The family history is traced back to the beginnings 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 ...

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 ...

beginning with the

Ghassanid The Ghassanids ( ar, الغساسنة, translit=al-Ġasāsina, also Banu Ghassān (, romanized as: ), also called the Jafnids, were an Arab tribe which founded a kingdom. They emigrated from southern Arabia in the early 3rd century to the Levan ...

tribe, which converted to Christianity nearly 2,000 years ago. The family name is now widespread worldwide. The village is of no great size, consisting of only a few dozen old homes built on terraced mountainsides lined with grape vineyards and many varieties of fruit trees. The population swells during the summer as people leave the heat of the Lebanese coastline for the freshness of the mountains. Its weather is moderate, with temperatures ranging near 70 F (25 C) in the summer, and near 30 F (0 C) in the winter season. Snowfall is common in the winter, with snow accumulations reaching 3 to 4 feet (1 meter). The population follows the Christian faith, divided between Antiochian Eastern-Orthodox, Antiochian Oriental-Orthodox and

Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in the Middle East. The term comes from the common Central Semitic Semitic root, ro ...

. The local St. Mary church is separated into two halves, one for each faith. The scenic view is perhaps the most notable aspect of this red terra cotta rooftop cluster - including a view of the snow-capped Lebanon mountains to the east, and 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 ...

sea and the city 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 ...

to the west. The village sits at an elevation about 3,600 ft. (1,100 m) just below the village of

Baskinta Baskinta ( ar, بسكنتا) is a Lebanon, Lebanese village situated at an altitude ranging from 1250 metres above sea level and climbs up to approximately 1800 meters of height at Qanat Bakish, making it one of the highest villages of Lebanon. It ...

and the towering

Mount Sannine Mount Sannine ( ar, جبل صنين / ALA-LC: ''Jabal Șannīn'') is a mountain in the Mount Lebanon range. Its highest point is 2,628 m (8,622 feet) above sea level in Lebanon. Mount Sannine, which has a base of limestone, is the source of many ...

. Its distance to Beirut is approximately 40 km, or approximately 1 hour of driving. Its GPS coordinates are From Kfarakab, the Maalouf clan migrated within Lebanon to

Zahlé Zahlé ( ar, زَحْلة) is the capital and the largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 150,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut and Tripoli and the fourth largest taking the whole urban area (t ...

and Niha in the

Bekaa Valley The Beqaa Valley ( ar, links=no, وادي البقاع, ', Lebanese ), also transliterated as Bekaa, Biqâ, and Becaa and known in classical antiquity as Coele-Syria, is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon. It is Lebanon's most importan ...

where it became one of the most prominent families in these villages. The migration continued in the late 1800s and 1900s to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, the

United States of 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 territo ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

where the family prospered and has become known in many spheres of influence. Image:Kfarakab1.jpg, The location of Kfarakab Image:Kfarakab3.jpg, The view from Kfarakab Image:Kfarakab4.jpg, Kfarakab form Abou mizan Image:Kfarakab5.jpg, Snow view from kfarakab Image:Kafarakab main street, Lebanon.jpg, Kafarakab main street, Blata File:Kafarakab Matn villages.jpg, A view from Kafarakab

Notable residents

Rony Aprat Rony is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ronielson da Silva Barbosa, Brazilian footballer better known as Rony *Rony Ahonen (born 1987), Finnish ice hockey defenceman *Rony Bakale (born 1987), Olympic swimmer from the Republ ...

, Top model since 2019, world renowned philanthropist, political key figure , has built the first food court in kfaraab and in the region. *

Fady Maalouf Fady Maalouf ( ar, فادي معلوف pronounced Fādī Maʿlūf; born on 20 April 1979) is a German–Lebanese pop and crossover opera singer. He is known as the runner up of the fifth season of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'', the Germa ...

, German singer, born in Zahlé (lives now in Berlin) *

Nassim Maalouf Nassim Maalouf ( ar, نسيم معلوف) (born 1941 in Kafarakab, Lebanon) is a classical trumpet soloist particularly known for his adaptation of the trumpet to Arabic music with the introduction of quarter tones on the instrument. Family Maalo ...

, classical trumpeter, born in Kafarakab * Nahim Malouf Abraham (1885-1965), businessman and community builder in Canadian, Texas

External links

Kfar Aaqab
Localiban
Kfarakab site
{{Matn District Populated places in the Matn District Eastern Orthodox Christian communities in Lebanon Melkite Christian communities in Lebanon