Mahrouna ( ar, محرونة) is a small
agribusiness town located in the south 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 ...
.
It is situated at a distance of 100 kilometres from
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 capital, and 18 kilometres to the southeast of the city of
Tyre. Mahrouna stands at a height of 400 meters above sea level. The population count is at approximately 3,800 inhabitants, however this number increases to about 5,000 during the vacations and summer times.
According to a municipal member, this is the city of origin of the Lebanese poet and politician
Tannus Alejandro Wehbe Malik who left for
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
during the late
Ottoman period. He is also directly related to the Lebanese singer and actress
Haifa Wehbe
Haifa Wehbe ( ar, هيفاء وهبي ) is a Lebanese- Egyptian singer and actress. She has released seven studio albums, and made her acting debut in the 2008 Pepsi-produced film ''Sea of Stars''. In 2006, Wehbe was on ''People Magazine''s 50 ...
, also native to Mahrouna, and
Jorge Wehbe
Florentino Jorge Wehbe (1920 – November 4, 1998) was an Argentine lawyer and economist who served as Minister of Economy of Argentina for one year.
Minister of Economy
Wehbe was director at the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires in 1955. He ...
, director at the
Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires
The Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires ( es, Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires), better known as Banco Provincia, is a publicly owned bank in Argentina and the second-largest in the country by value of assets and deposits.
History
The prog ...
in 1955.
Name
E. H. Palmer wrote that the name Mahrûneh came from "'carded' (as cotton)."
History
In 1875
Victor Guérin
Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Min ...
found it to be a
Metawileh
Lebanese Shia Muslims ( ar, المسلمون الشيعة اللبنانيين), historically known as ''matāwila'' ( ar, متاولة, plural of ''mutawālin'' ebanese pronounced as ''metouali'' refers to Lebanese people who are adherents ...
village, he further noted: "Here are traces of a surrounding wall, ancient materials, a tomb cut in the rock, and a
quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...
, a part of which has been formed into a tank."
In 1881, the
PEF's
''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described it as: "A village, built of stone, containing about 150
Metawileh
Lebanese Shia Muslims ( ar, المسلمون الشيعة اللبنانيين), historically known as ''matāwila'' ( ar, متاولة, plural of ''mutawālin'' ebanese pronounced as ''metouali'' refers to Lebanese people who are adherents ...
; no houses of note; situated on a hill, surrounded by olives, figs, and arable land, with a spring and
cistern
A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...
s."
This peaceful quiet town is rich with its green surrounding, but it is especially famous for its
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
and
olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
trees hill which forms a natural park for the town’s residents. This hill has an ancient ruin at the top with large squared stones arranged on top of each other to form part of a solid wall corner. The residents believe it to be the remains of a small castle or stronghold.
Unfortunately, this greenly oak hill has been bombarded several times since the 1970s by the Israeli jets. As a result, large numbers of oak trees were burnt in some parts of the hill, especially in
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
.
Mahrouna became a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in 2004. During these municipal elections, nine municipal council members were elected for six years, with Kamal Wehbe elected president. Currently the municipality runs the services required for the town independently, although still remaining under the control of the central government.
Haifa Wehbe
Haifa Wehbe ( ar, هيفاء وهبي ) is a Lebanese- Egyptian singer and actress. She has released seven studio albums, and made her acting debut in the 2008 Pepsi-produced film ''Sea of Stars''. In 2006, Wehbe was on ''People Magazine''s 50 ...
, one of the most famous artists in the Arab world, was born in Mahrouna; she also won Miss South Lebanon in 1992, and was runner up for
Miss Lebanon
Miss Lebanon ( ar, ملكة جمال لبنان, Malikat Jamāl Lubnān, Queen of Beauty of Lebanon) is the national beauty pageant in Lebanon. The current Miss Lebanon is Yasmina Zaytoun who was crowned on 24 July 2022.
History
Miss Lebanon h ...
in 1996.
Demography
The town is predominantly inhabited by
Shia Muslims
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
, though the surrounding area also has a significant
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 ...
minority.
Gallery
File:Town-House-By-Haasan-Makki-05-08 (2).jpg, Old Town House
File:Mahrouna Green View-05-08- By H-Makki.jpg, Town's Green View
File:Mahrona-OakTreeHill-By-H-Makki-5-2008.jpg, Oak Tree Hill
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
Sources
*Municipality of Mahrouna
Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, Republic of Lebanon
External links
* Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2
IAA Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a media repository of free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects in ...
Mahrouna Localiban
{{Tyre District
Populated places in Tyre District
Shia Muslim communities in Lebanon