The LAU-MEPI
Leaders for Democracy Fellowship
Arabic Program

On Sunday the 13^th of October 2013, the LDF youth group set out to Becharre and The Cedars. It is a stunning mountainous area with captivating views and mountains that reach approximately 1800 meters above sea level. The first place we stopped was the Village of Becharre which is 126 kilometers away from Beirut. We visited the beautiful museum of the renowned Lebanese philosopher and author Gibran Khalil Gibran and we learnt that he had wanted that museum to be a definition of his life for the visitors. The museum is situated in a stone monastery close to Gibran’s grave and contains a large collection of his paintings and writings. Hundreds of the famous Cedars can be found in the area. They are the last remains of the dense forests that covered Mount Lebanon in past ages. However, destruction of this natural treasure has led to a lower number of trees in the area. Some of the Cedars of Becharre are hundreds of years old. In fact, we saw two trees that had trunks around 14 meters wide and reached 35 meters in height. It is worth mentioning that this kind of tree takes thousands of years to reach a height of 35 meters.

We greatly enjoyed the marvelous natural views that cannot and will not be forgotten. We saw soaring mountain scenery crowned by the oldest cedar forest in Lebanon, as well as truly beautiful valleys including the Qadisha Valley. We also observed that this area is inhabited by the Maronite Sect. Becharre is considered a spiritual center for the Maronites and as a result the location has been embellished by beautiful architecture with churches spread throughout the steep mountain slopes resembling gold ringlets decorating the location.