Ehden Ehden ( ar, إِهْدِن, Syriac-Aramaic: ܐܗܕ ܢ ) is a mountainous city in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal in the Mount Lebanon Range. Its residents are the people of Zgharta, as i ...

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 Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, Mar Sarkis is a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

of the

Antonins The Antonins, known formally as the Antonin Maronite Order ( la, Ordo Antonianorum Maronitarum; abbreviated OAM), is a monastic order of pontifical right for men in the Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic ...

. It is located in the

Zgharta District Zgharta District ( ar, زغرتا) is a district (''qadaa'') of the North Governorate, northern Lebanon. Its capital is the city of Zgharta. Geography The administrative center is the city of Zgharta. The district has 101 populated areas with 30 ...

of the

North Governorate North Governorate ( ar, الشمال, ') (Lebanese pr. ''eš šmél'') (French: Gouvernorat du Liban-Nord) is one of the governorates of Lebanon. Its capital is Tripoli. Ramzi Nohra has been its governor since May 2, 2014. The population of North ...

, in the Qozhaya valley. It overlooks

, Kfarsghab, Bane and Hadath El Jebbeh. Given its exceptional location commanding the valley at 1500 meters altitude, the monastery is called ''the Watchful Eye of Qadisha''. It is dedicated to Saints

Sergius and Bacchus Sergius (or Serge) and Bacchus were fourth-century Roman Empire, Roman Christians, Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints by the Catholic Church, Catholic, Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodoxy, Oriental Or ...

(Sarkis and Bakhos). The name ''Ras Al Nahr'' means 'the top of the rive'r as it is in the vicinity of the Mar Sarkis Source, the main contributor to the river Qlaynsieh which, after joining the Qannoubine river, will form near

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 ...

the river Abou Ali.

History

The first church of Saints Sarkis and Bakhos was built in the mid 8th Century A.D. on the ruins of a Canaanite temple dedicated to a

divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

of agriculture. Next to it, another church dedicated to Our Lady was constructed in 1198 A.D. Several buildings were added from 1404 till 1690, when Patriarch

Estephan El Douaihy Estephan El Douaihy ( ar, اسطفانوس الثاني بطرس الدويهي / ALA-LC: ''Isṭifānūs al-thānī Buṭrus al-Duwayhī''; french: Étienne Douaihi; la, Stephanus Dovaihi; it, Stefano El Douaihy; August 2, 1630 – May 3, 1704) ...

Patriarch Estephan Douaihy on Ehden Family Tree website
/ref> restored part of the buildings. It is interesting to know that: *the Monastery was the Episcopal See of

from 1473 till 1739, *the French hermit François de Chasteuil lived in this monastery before moving in 1643 to the Monastery Mar Elisha

Bsharri Bsharri ( ar, بشرّي ''Bšarrī''; syr, ܒܫܪܝ; also Romanized ''Becharre'', ''Bcharre'', ''Bsharre'', (''Bcharre El Arez بشرّي الارز'') is a town at an altitude of about to . It is located in the Bsharri District of the Nort ...

, *

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in ce ...

(1670-1704) was ordained priest in this Monastery on March 25, 1656. The Monastery belonged to the Douaihy family whose priests and Bishops resided in it and paid all its taxes and maintenance. On September 1, 1739, the Monastery was given to the

Antonin Maronite Order The Antonins, known formally as the Antonin Maronite Order ( la, Ordo Antonianorum Maronitarum; abbreviated OAM), is a monastic order of pontifical right for men in the Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic C ...

who extended and improved its buildings and properties since then. In 1854, the Antonin Maronite Order founded the Monastery of Mar Sarkis,

Zgharta Zgharta ( ar, زغرتا, syc, ܙܓܪܬܐ), also spelled Zghorta, is a city in North Lebanon, with an estimated population of around 50,000. It is the second biggest city in Northern Lebanon after Tripoli. Zgharta is about 150 metres above sea ...

in order to allow the monks of Mar Sarkis to spend wintertimes away from the rigorous climate of the mountain. In 1938, the two monastic communities of

and

were merged.

References

* Abi Khalil, Father Sharbel (1995): ''Tarikh Deir Al Qiddissayn Sarkis wa Bakhos, Ehden'', J. Reaidy Press, Jounieh, Lebanon.

External links

The Antonin Maronite Order, Official Website

Ehden Family Tree
{{coord, 34.2900, N, 35.9822, E, source:wikidata, display=title Maronite monasteries in Lebanon 8th-century establishments in the Umayyad Caliphate

History

See also

References

External links