Nested in between Bcharreh and Tourza, Wadi Qadisha is compared exactly to a profound gorge, concealing an exceptional vegetation, with steep sides of parallel stratums, a land with a view full of contrasts where the arid planes of Qornet Es-sawda open on the Greenland of the nearby valleys where cedars, that live for long centuries, leave the place for green oak trees, juniper, and Mediterranean shrubs: the whole is crossed with a river that flow down: “Naher Qadisha”. The water of the small nearby valleys runs down in its flow, and whenever out of the valley go through Tripoli reaching the sea.
This river gave the region its title “the Saint Valley”. In fact, the name Qadisha shows in his Semitic roots the “Saint concept”.

85 km far from Beirut and 18 km from Tripoli, the valley spreads out from Kousba and is divided later into two branches starting from Tourza. Each branch holds the name of a monastery. The first, Wadi Qozhaya reachs Ehden and the second, Wadi Qannoubine, covers Hadath El-jebbe in the south to and up in the Cedars.

An amazing geological work has created this valley as it is known today in its entire splendor. Erosions caused by the passage of the river that this valley was gradually eroded until the formation of this profound gorge with the creation of grottos below.

The most important consequence of this valley, on the natural and on the cultural levels, was the natural formation of these grottos: Jewels of this valley, stemmed from the underground karistic erosion, they immediately became refuge grottos or sacred grottos.
Qadisha grotto, under Bcharreh village, stretches out over more than 778 meters. Dilmass grotto located on a strategic site was used as a watching post through its façade gapped by small openings. El Houriyyeh grotto, witnessed a civilization that used to observe accurate funerary rituals.

Concealing antiquities, flowing down sources, elaborated by circumvolutions and harmonious undulations formed by the rock, sprinkled with stalactites and stalagmites and other calcareous concretions, the entire run down on different colors, some of these grottos offers to the exploratory sight a bewitching view.

Refuge grotto and Christianity

Since prehistory during the roman era, people lived in these grottos. But at the first lights of Christianity, taken with bloody doctrinal quarrels concerning Christ’s nature, these grottos were transformed into real chapels, monasteries and hermitages, where lived generations of monks, hermits and ascetics.

Easy to reach grottos, having been used as refuge reached hundreds in numbers and were linked to the big monasteries of the valley. These monasteries were autonomous and the monks that occupied these monasteries did not pronounce their vows but took their functions wearing the official clothes. They had an ascetic existence in utter destitution; some of them became sometime real hermits.
Travelers’ testimonies are numerous about this exemplary monastic way of life that respects with all accuracy prayers, frugal dinners and field works.

It is worth mentioning that the echoes of different prayers were heard in the valley in all languages: Greek, Syriac, Ethiopian, and Arabic. Even some Muslim solitaries took these grottos as refuge. According to the Andalusian voyager Ibn Joubeir’s stories that are well known nowadays, Muslim recluses and the Christian population used to get along very well then.

What is still mysterious is the little information about exact beginnings of Christianity in this region. Small temples had existed for long time in the mountains, and villages seem to be developed all around worship places. Later, after the recognition of the Christianity as an official religion, the ancient worship places were systematically destructed. Some places are still witnesses of this period before Christianity. At Hadchit, the Saint Roman church (Mar Romanos), seems to have been built on an archeological temple. At Bcharre, under Saint-Serge (Mar Sarkis) Convent, there is an archeological grave dominated by a natural obelisk overhanging the valley. There are so many signs of impregnation of roman traditions in this valley, Christianity having been introduced late in Qadisha in contrary to coastal villages.

The entire valley keeps the mark of different cultures and civilizations that had went through it. A pagan vestige with religious relics, Qadisha is the link between centuries. It witnessed the morals evolution on the religious level and among others the impacts of Christianity in the region.

With the crusaders, the “saint valley” was a real refuge, but also a high place for confrontation: the alliance between Christians of the mountains and a Muslim army knocked over the francs protected by Tripoli earldom. Later in the XIII century, the Mamelouks took over the power, made incursions in the valley where were patriarchs who ended by being massacred with their refugees. During these incursions, the residents hid in difficult to reach grottos like “Aassi al-Hadath” grotto.

All the abovementioned wealth, whether natural or cultural, pushed the UNESCO to register Qadisha Valley on the list of International Patrimony under the number 850.