Aley () is a major city in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. It is the capital of the

Aley District Aley () is a district (''qadaa'') in Mount Lebanon, Lebanon, to the south-east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The capital is Aley. Aley city was previously known as the "bride of the summers" during the 1960 and 1970s, when Aley and neighbor ...

and fourth largest city in Lebanon. The city is located on

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon (, ; , ; ) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It is about long and averages above in elevation, with its peak at . The range provides a typical alpine climate year-round. Mount Lebanon is well-known for its snow-covered mountains, ...

, 15km uphill from

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

on the freeway to

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. Aley has the nickname "Bride of the Summer resorts" () due to its cooler climate during the summer touristic season. Other nicknames include "Capital of the Mountain: () and the "Lebanese City of Fog" (), due to its mountain foggy weather.

History

Aley gained prominence upon the completion of the

Beirut–Damascus Railway Rail transport in Lebanon began in the 1890s as French projects under the Ottoman Empire but largely ceased in the 1970s owing to the country's civil war. The last remaining routes ended for economic reasons in the 1990s. At its peak Lebanon ha ...

in the mid-1890s. The railroad provided the residents of Beirut easy means of transportation to the mountains, and this made Aley a popular destination to spend the summer months and enjoy its pleasant climate. It was the site of a serious accident on 12 April 1904, when part of the locomotive exploded and the train fell backwards down the 7% grade, killing 8 and seriously injuring another 21. The city was for a while the summer capital of the Ottoman governors of Mount Lebanon. Kamil Pasha made Aley his capital and organized a Diwan, later used by

Djemal Pasha Ahmed Djemal (; ; 6 May 1872 – 21 July 1922), also known as Djemal Pasha or Cemâl Pasha, was an Ottoman military leader and one of the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I. As an officer of the II Corps, he was ...

where he

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

a large number of Lebanese and Syrian Arab nationalists who sought independence from the Ottomans. Also, a Jewish community once frequented this multi-cultural city, and they maintained a synagogue in Souk Aley, but it has since been abandoned. In 2001, the municipality of Aley began renovating the downtown area, especially its historic souk, and the city quickly revived its role in Lebanon's tourism.

Etymology

The word "Aley" means "high place" in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and in

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

, referring to the city's high altitude above sea level (from 600m up to 950m).

Tourism

Aley is a major tourist destination in Lebanon and the Middle East. Its location and climate made it a favorable venue for shopping and dining, especially for wealthy Arabs from

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

states. This resort city with its increasing number of tourists and visitors has become the most flourishing resort in Mount Lebanon, and thus has garnered its historical name as "The Bride of Summers". The "Souk Aley" is a relatively long historical boulevard lined with palm trees; there are numerous redroofed stone houses erected on the east side of the street while several street cafes, outdoor restaurants, and nightlife pubs occupy its western side. In addition to these, there are tens of

antique shop An antique shop (or antiques shop) is a retail store specializing in the selling of antiques. Antiques shops generally have a physical presence in a shop where the wares are stored and displayed, but some antique shops are online, with no phy ...

s and retail boutiques along the street, which forms the heart of Aley. Aley also hosts a well-known casino and many public swimming pools like the Piscine Aley, Country Club and Heritage. There's also many hotels like the Highland, Regent Palace and the Golden Tulip. There's also malls in Aley like the Aley Center and Aley Mall and many Lebanese and international restaurants. Moreover, the Balakin street (terras) is a fantastic observatory spot to overview a good part of the city all the way down to a triangular shape of Beirut and the Mediterranean Sea going up left to the 2600 meters high summit of Sanin Mountain. A panoramic view that can rarely be seen anywhere in the world. The city also hosts 3 artistic symposiums in Piscine and Ras el Jabal neighborhoods. These symposiums contain artistic sculptures performed in the beginning of the century by a big number of Lebanese and international artists that added a cultural charm to the beauty of Aley. In 1910 Aley received the founders of the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

(AUB), they built castles and lived there for several years. During the 1960s several artists performed in the hotels and the casinos of Aley such as

Umm Kulthum Umm Kulthum (; 31 December 1898 – 3 February 1975) was an Egyptians, Egyptian singer and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title (). Immensely popular throughout the Middle East and beyond, Umm Kul ...

Mohammed Abdel Wahab Mohamed Abdel Wahab (), also transliterated ''Mehammad Abdelwehab'', (March 13, 1902 – May 4, 1991), was a prominent 20th-century Egyptian singer, actor, and composer. He is best known for his Romantic and Egyptian patriotic songs. He ...

and

Farid Al Atrash Farid al-Atrash (; October 19, 1910 – December 26, 1974), also spelled Farid El-Atrache, was a Syrian-Egyptian singer, oudist, composer, and actor. Although born in Syria, he immigrated to Egypt at the age of nine with his mother and siblings, ...

. Aley is the capital of the

and it has 18 municipality members. In 2009 the municipality joined the

Yasa Yasa was a bhikkhu during the time of Gautama Buddha. He was the sixth bhikkhu in the Buddha's sangha and was the sixth to achieve arahanthood. Yasa lived in the 6th century BCE in what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in northern India. Yasa wa ...

in a safety program to reduce the rate of accidents.

Climate

Aley has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, with warm and rain less summers, mild autumns and springs, and cool rainy winters. Snow can occasionally fall in colder years. The city is known in Lebanon for its often foggy weather.

Demographics

In 2014,

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

made up 67.26% and

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

made up 28.65% of registered voters in Aley. 12.04% of registered voters were

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

. Aley is characterized by having a very wide variety of residents, representing all the Lebanese inclusively. There are estimated to be 75,000 people living in the city of Aley. The permanent residents of Aley are predominantly

Druze people The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arab esoteric religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and syncretic religion whose main tenets assert the un ...

. It can be claimed to be the city with the largest Druze population in the World. While the metropolitan city of Aley is mostly made up of Druze with a large minority of Christians (~30%), the greater Aley area is predominantly Christian with towns like

Kahale Kahale (), is a mountain village in the district of Aley (Caza Aley), Lebanon, situated 13 km from Beirut. The population is estimated to be around 11,000 residents, with the majority being Maronite Catholic. Geography Considering the locale ...

Bsous Bsous is a village in the Aley District of Mount Lebanon with an estimated population of 6,000. It is located 200 to 730 meters above sea level and 14 kilometres from the capital, Beirut. It is both a summer resort as well as being inhabited durin ...

Bhamdoun Bhamdoun (), is a town in Lebanon from Beirut on the main road that leads to Damascus and in the suburbs of the main tourist city of Aley, lying at an altitude of above the Lamartine valley. Geography Two separate villages compose the town, ' ...

and

Souk El Gharb Souk El Gharb (), (also spelled Suk, Sug al, ul, Suq), is a town located in the Aley District, Mount Lebanon Governorate, in Lebanon and its name translates to "Western Market". Before the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), this mountain town sur ...

being mostly Christian. The city has also seen a massive influx of Syrian refugees since 2011.

Culture and education

The city contains 15 schools, 5 public and 10 private. The largest, oldest, and most important of these schools is The Universal College in Aley (UCA) which is considered one of the best schools in the country. It was built in 1907 by Mr. Shebl Khoury. There are also 2 universities in the city: the

Lebanese University The Lebanese University (LU; ) is the only state-funded public university in Lebanon. It was established in 1951. The university's main campus was originally located in Beirut, but a few satellite campuses were opened due to travel restriction ...

-Faculty of Economic Science and Business Administrations, and the Modern University of Business and Science (MUBS). There's also the

University of Balamand The University of Balamand (UOB; ) is a private institution, secular in its policies and approach to education. It welcomes faculty, students, and staff from all faiths and national or ethnic origins. The university is located in the northern di ...

located in Souk Al Gharb in the suburbia of Aley as well as the

American University of Science and Technology The American University of Science and Technology (AUST; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and co-educational American university in Lebanon. It was established in 1989 in Beirut, under the name of the ''American Universal College'' through Decr ...

(AUST) located in the nearby town of Bhamdoun. Aley has four hospitals: The National Hospital of Aley (30 beds), Al Iman Hospital (52 beds), Al Chehayeb Hospital (20 beds) and Al Ouyoun Hospital, which specializes in ophthalmology.

Sport

Akhaa Ahli Aley FC Akhaa Ahli Aley Football Club (), commonly referred to as Akhaa Ahli Aley, Akhaa Ahli or simply Akhaa, is a football club based in Aley, Lebanon, that competes in the , and is primarily supported by the Druze community. Akhaa have played in ...

, a football club playing in the , is based in Aley.