Deir El Qamar and the Chouf Cedar Reserve
Two places I'll take you when you come visit...
Mountain village Deir El Qamar used to be the the seat of government 400 years ago, before it was moved to Beirut. This is where our school's outdoor classroom is located, where I took my class for an overnight camp out. It is also the home of Beit Eddine, the President's summer palace which houses the Mosaic Museum. We (Lucy, her sister Kate, and I) hired a driver (Bayan, the Debke dancer) who drove us up to the cedar reserve for a hike, about a 2 hour drive south and east of Beirut.
I've been to two sections of the Cedar Reserve, and each time I've been awed by the magnificent trees that are protected there. Cedar trees were cut years ago and used by early Phoenicians for ship building. Prized cedar wood was traded to Egypt in return for Aswan's pink granite. Columns of the pink granite were shipped and rolled to construction sites in Lebanon by the Romans. The granite is still seen in the ruins of Baalbek and Tyre.
Here are some photos of the oldest cedar trees found up in the high mountains.
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| Lucy and I on a cedar branch big as a tree trunk! |
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| Cedars are slow growing trees. |
After a picnic lunch we drove back down to Beit Eddine to see the Mosaic Museum. It was Kate who wanted to make the stop, and as it turned out, we all loved it.
Beit Eddine: The President's summer place and home of the Mosaic Museum.
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| Mosaic Museum is under the cool arches below the palace. |
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| Mosaics were originally used as floors! |
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| I loved the bird and animal mosaics; so lively! |
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