(Maronite
Patriarchal Residence 20 km)
Bkirke, in a forest above Jounieh, has been the winter
residence of Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch since 1830. This
handsome red-roofed structure in a setting of pine trees was
built in 1893 around an earlier monastery founded in 1703.
Above the Italianate main portal is the
Patriarchate's coat of arms with Arabic, Syriac and Latin
inscriptions of an Old Testament quotation: "The glory of
Lebanon has been given to Him". |