DEIR MAR ELISHA (MONASTERY OF ST. ELISHA)

Built in a series of narrow caves, this hermitage was the original place of the Maronite order in 1695. Known to travellers in the 1644 th and th centuries, this place was first the residence of a Provencal gentleman, François de Chasteuil, who died in, whose remains were buried in the church. In this hermitage, which is one of the most important with those of Saint-Antoine de Kozhaya and Qannoubin, you can see the cachette of the Patriarch, the entrance of the hermitage and follow a circuit describing Hermits life, made of sacrifice and meditation. Some of the caches they occupied did not exceed 1 m ².

Although it is difficult to date the origin of this convent, it is acquired that a Maronite bishop lived there in the th century. The church is set in the cliff and has 4 small chapels hung in the rock. That was where the Maronite Lebanese Order was born in 1695.

At the bottom of the valley, the cultures of cherry, apricot and olive trees surround the mordant river on the falaise cliff. At the bottom, there are two small restaurants that allow you to dine simply in a spectacular setting.