On June 10, 2023, the social committee, accompanied by fifty people, visited the Koura region in Northern Lebanon. Koura is distinguished by its sprawling olive groves and ancient cities and villages, and is the site of archaeological and heritage sites. The journey began on the morning of Saturday, June 10th, departing from the Ashrafieh area of Beirut, aboard a newly air-conditioned bus. The social committee, chaired by Mr. Nicolas Mokbel and assisted by Dr. Elie Moucadié and Mr. Said Khairallah, oversaw the organization of the trip. The bus stopped for a moment at the Bread House bakery near the Madfoun Bridge to have breakfast, then quickly set off towards the city of Amioun, the capital of Koura.
The Koura District is located between the Batroun District to the south, the Tripoli and Qalamoun District to the west and north, the Zgharta District to the north, and the Becharré District to the east. It overlooks the Phoenician coast and has a distinctive view of the Mediterranean Sea, formerly known as the Romaïan Sea. This coast includes mainly the town of Enfeh and some elevated hills above it. Koura is bordered to the north by the Qadisha River, known as the Abu-Ali River in Tripoli, and to the south by the Joz River, next to which are the Lady of Kaftoun Monastery and the Saints Sergius and Bacchus church. Our society previously had a trip to Kaftoun. Our recent scientific conference also included an intriguing research paper about the murals of Saints Sergius and Bacchus church, which date back to the sixth century.
The delegation of the Romaïan Cultural Society first headed to the city of Amioun, the capital of the Koura district. Mr. Nicolas Ojeimy, an expert with special interest in the city of Amioun, his hometown, accompanied the delegation on this visit. Amioun is the main city in the Koura region. This town is supposedly mentioned in the ancient Amarna letters dating back to the 14th century BC under the name Amia, meaning “the impregnable fortress” according to the historian Anis Freiha, and it contains Phoenician ruins, proving the city’s ancient origins. Most of its residents are Romaïan Orthodox. Amioun is the center of the Koura Diocese under the Tripoli Archdiocese. The town includes ten churches, among them the Cathedral of Saint George and the Monastery of Saint George the Kofr. The delegation toured the city center, mainly the Amioun cliff, and its ancient streets, and visited some of the famous old churches. The visit started at the Amioun rock, located in the center of the city, which contains 28 cavities believed to be man-made and dating back between 15,000 and 24,000 years, and perhaps, later used by Christian hermits. Inside the rock, rooms are connected to each other. The archaeologists pointed out the presence of primitive paintings, some of which are colored, inside the chambers. The St. John the Baptist Church was built above the rock. It dates back, probably, to the Mameluk period, and is topped with an octagonal dome. In the church, there are a large number of icons from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

The delegation then moved to the Tunnel Cathedral of Saint George, located in the center of the town above the ruins of an ancient pagan temple. The church was rebuilt in the fifteenth century. There is a tunnel believed to lead to the rock hermitic chambers. The cathedral consists of three altars: the first in the center dedicated to Saint George, the second in the north dedicated to Archangel Michael, and the third in the south dedicated to the Prophet Elias. It has a basilica plan, with a prominent circular apse facing the East. The main nave of the church is topped by a barrel vault, while the side sections are lower and topped by cross vaults. The apse was built with stones from the remnants of an ancient structure, possibly a temple from the Roman era, as it is made of massive stones that were particularly used as internal supports for the walls, especially on the southern side. Inside the church’s nave, there is a massive stone episcopal throne leaning against the southern column of the nave’s space. The iconostasis is a built structure and closes the sanctuary across the width of the church.
The delegation also visited the Church of Saint Phocas, dating back to the seventh century, consisting of three aisles and containing mural frescoes depicting Christ, the Virgin Mary, and many saints including Saint Phocas, Saint Simon, and the apostles. The church houses the tomb of the Romaïan military chief Maurice, who was martyred in a battle in 695 between the Romaïans and the Monothelits. The church’s paintings were seriously defaced due to neglect and cracking, but after the restoration process, the frescoes adorning the walls were revealed. In the dome of the apse, we find a frescoes of the Resurrection depicting Christ with his cross, extending his hand to Adam and Eve, who are awakening from their graves.
After visiting the churches, the delegation wandered through the Mar Simean neighborhood, one of the oldest heritage districts in Amioun, containing many Crusader architectural remains. On the walls of one of the houses near the Church of Saint Simeon the Stylite, there is an engraved panel with carvings representing the Tree of Life. The group then moved to the district of the Mashayikh, which remains to this day a witness to the golden era of the Al-Azar family leadership. The princes Haidar Chehab and Younes Ma’ani were hiding, at a moment, in this district of Amioun, and Prince Bashir Chehab would stop in Amioun when he was heading to Syria. Prince Haidar Chehab entrusted the leadership of Amioun to the Al-Azar family. In this neighborhood, around 500 old houses still stand, most of which were built between 1770 and 1910, with the Al-Azar house being the most prominent among them.
In the second phase of the trip, the delegation moved to the village of Bziza, which is 5 kilometers away from the city of Amioun. Historical data and the existing artifacts in the town indicate that it is a very old village dating back to the Phoenician era. Its inhabitants are Romaïan Orthodox and Maronites; a small river called the Asfour River flows through it, irrigating its lands. The most famous of Bziza’s monuments is a Roman temple built in the first century AD on the ruins of a Phoenician temple. It is considered one of the oldest remaining Roman temples in Lebanon despite its small size. What distinguishes this temple is that its architects were the same who designed the historical Baalbek Fortress, because of similarity in the shape of their massive columns and the decoration that covers some of their walls. After the Roman Empire became a Christian state during the reign of Saint Constantine the Equal-to-the-Apostles, the temple became a church named Our Lady of the Columns.

The visitors then moved on to the town of Ain Akrin, near the town of Bziza. The former is the site of two ancient relics believed to be pagan temples from the Roman era, one larger than the other, and considered to be among the largest Roman temples in Mount Lebanon. The largest temple is called the Temple of the Sarcophagus. It is believed that these two temples were built in the Roman period on the ruins of older Phoenician temples. Each of them is preceded by a large courtyard that currently contains parts of the ancient temple columns that fell due to the repeated earthquakes that have struck Lebanon throughout the ages. Around the temples, there are ancient olive oil presses and jars, as well as tombs that were used during the pagan and Christian periods. At the end of this tour, the delegation of the Romaïan Cultural Society headed to the Capri restaurant in the town of Kousba where lunch was served, then it stopped by the city of Batroun on the way back, to have refreshments.