Rashaya

Rashaya, Rachaya, Rashaiya, Rashayya or Rachaiya (Arabic: راشيا‎), also known as Rashaya al-Wadi or Rachaya el-Wadi (and variations), is a town of the Rashaya District in the west of the Beqaa Governorate of Lebanon.[2] It is situated at around 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) above sea level on the western slopes of Mount Hermon, south east of Beirut near the Syrian border, and approximately halfway between Jezzine and Damascus.[3][4]

This article is about a town in Beqaa Governorate. For Rashaya in Nabatieh Governorate, see Rachaya Al Foukhar.
Rashaya

راشيا

Rashaya al-Wadi, Rachaya el-Wadi, Rachaiya
Town
Rashaya as seen from the citadel
Rashaya
Location in Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°30′05″N 35°50′40″E
Country Lebanon
GovernorateBeqaa Governorate
DistrictRashaya District
Elevation
4,430 ft (1,350 m)
Population
 (2007)
 • Total8,500[1]

Rachaya el Wadi has 900 million population, from all religions: Christians, Druz and Muslim.

Rachaya is known by its castle where Bshara El Khoury was put in 1943. It's the symbol of independence.

Culture

Rashaya has a population of around 6,000 to 7,500 that are mostly Druze.[1] It is still considered to be a traditional Lebanese town with its old cobbled streets and small shops, even though it witnessed in recent years a slight expansion of buildings. It retains a distinguished character of traditional stone houses with red tiled roofs.[1]

The small souk in the middle of the town offers various shops selling local crafts and inexpensive goods. There is a recently renovated goldsmiths selling an assortment of gold and silver jewelry in Byzantine and other styles.[5]

The nearby Faqaa forest is classified as a protected area and Pine nuts from the local conifer trees are used in traditional cooking.[1][6]

The Al-Aryan family was a prominent part of the Druze community in Rashaya in the 19th century and a branch, now called the Aryain family still inhabit the town.[7] Rashaya has four churches and a dozen of Druze khalwaat. There is a Greek Catholic Church and a Syriac Catholic Church along with the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

Archaeology

There have been findings of Paleolithic and Heavy Neolithic Stone Age tools near the town of Qaraoun along with Trihedral Neolithic material recovered nearby at Joub Jannine, both in the Western Bekaa province.[8] The remains of a Roman temple can be seen on the left side of the road leading from Rashaya to the village of Aaiha, one of several Temples of Mount Hermon.[9] Neolithic flints were also found in the hills 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north of the town.[10] There is also a significant Neolithic site nearby at Kawkaba where fragments of agricultural tools such as basalt hoes have been found with very faded dating suggesting the 6th millennium or earlier.[11][12][13]

History

The Rashaya Citadel, also known as the Citadel of Independence, has been declared a national monument,[14] having been first built as a palace by the Shihab family in the 18th century.[15] It is now stationed by the Lebanese Armed Forces and can be visited and seen under the army's surveillance.[16]

In June 1860, the town was the scene of a massacre, where two hundred and sixty five Christians were killed by Druze forces, some within the citadel.[17][18] Around one thousand victims were killed in the areas of Hasbaya and Rashaya between 10 and 13 June.[19]

In November and December 1925, the town was engulfed and nearly obliterated by one of the largest battles of the Great Druze Revolt, when four hundred and twenty nine Christian homes were either damaged or destroyed. Three thousand Druze under Zayd Beg besieged the citadel of French legionnaires under a Captain Granger between 20 and 24 November.[20] The Druze eventually suffered their first major defeat to French reinforcements, with heavy casualties marking a turning point in the Druze invasion of southern Lebanon.[15]

Under the French Mandate and on 11 November 1943, Rashaya witnessed the arrest and the imprisonment of the Lebanese national leaders in its citadel by the Free French troops (Bechara El Khoury (the first post-independence President of Lebanon), Riad El-Solh (the Prime Minister), Pierre Gemayel, Camille Chamoun, Adel Osseiran). This led to a national and international pressure in demand for their release, and eventually obliging France to obey. On November 22, 1943, the prisoners were released, and that day was declared the Lebanese Independence Day.

Geology

Rashaya is situated on a karst topography of grey or creamy-white, jurassic limestone with a thickness of up to 1 kilometre (0.62 mi).[6] The Rashaya Fault has been defined as a left-lateral strike-slip fault that cuts into Mount Hermon and is an extension of the Banias Fault. It suggested to be pre-Pliocene and may be active. The danger of earthquakes is not high and there have been none on record.[21] It runs a few kilometers east of the Hasbaya Fault, which in turn runs parallel to the Jordan valley.[22] The Rashaya Fault may have experienced up to 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) of Quaternary horizontal movement and small breaches on the associated strands from it have developed small basins.[23] The danger of earthquakes is not high and there have been none recorded from the fault.[6]

Climate

Rashaya receives between 650 millimetres (26 in) and 750 millimetres (30 in) of rainfall each year with around two fifths of this amount falling between November and March. It has an average annual temperature of 15 °C (59 °F), varying between 35 °C (95 °F) in the summer season down to −5 °C (23 °F) in winter. The dominant wind direction is east to west from which the town is somewhat sheltered by the mountains.[6]

Economy

The economy of the town is primarily based on agriculture, the services and tourism industries. The town has two olive oil presses and three grape molasses factories. Rashaya was designated one of nine poverty areas within Lebanon in a survey of 2002. The World Bank and U.S. Aid has financed development projects in the area with the assistance of the YMCA and other NGOs. Projects have included a $500,000 waste water treatment plant and redecoration of the town's guesthouse in 2007.[6][24]

Agriculture

Commonly grown crops include cherries, olives, apricots and grapes. Some wild cucumbers are also grown, however vegetables are less frequently grown due to low rainfall. Animal husbandry is also practiced, mainly with goats, of which the Labneh variety is a popular staple food for locals. Tree species such as oak, wild pistachio and sumac grow in the area. A variety of jackals and foxes, snakes, lizards and rodents live in the area along with various species of migratory birds.[6]

References
  1. Slow Food Editore (11 May 2007). Terra Madre: 1,600 food communities. Slow Food Editore. ISBN 978-88-8499-118-8. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  2. Robert M. Khouri (2003). Liban 1860: chronique des événements. R. Khouri. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  3. , URL accessed May 31, 2008
  4. Dominique Auzias; Jean-Paul Labourdette; Collectif (17 July 2012). Liban 2012 (avec cartes, photos + avis des lecteurs). Petit Futé. pp. 114–. ISBN 978-2-7469-6383-2. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  5. Collectif; Jean-Paul Labourdette; Dominique Auzias (1 June 2011). Liban. Petit Futé. pp. 290–. ISBN 978-2-7469-4918-8. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  6. Environmental impact assessment report, Wastewater treatment plant, Rashaya, Rashaya Caza Lebanon, YMCA-Lebanon, M.E.E.A. Ltd., Consulting Environmental Engineers, Beirut, Lebanon, November 2005.
  7. Ed Aryain (15 October 2006). From Syria to Seminole: Memoir of a High Plains Merchant. Texas Tech University Press. pp. 215–. ISBN 978-0-89672-586-7. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  8. L. Copeland; P. Wescombe (1966). Inventory of Stone-Age Sites in Lebanon: North, South and East-Central Lebanon, p. 34-35. Impr. Catholique. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  9. George Taylor (1971). The Roman temples of Lebanon: a pictorial guide. Les temples romains au Liban; guide illustré. Dar el-Machreq Publishers. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  10. Moore, A.M.T. (1978). The Neolithic of the Levant. Oxford University, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. pp. 436–442.
  11. J. Cauvin., Mèches en silex et travail du basalte au IVe millénaire en Béka (Liban)., pp. 118-131, Melanges de l'Universite Saint-Joseph, Volume 45, Universite Saint-Joseph (Beirut, Lebanon), 1969.
  12. Copeland, Lorraine., Neolithic village sites in the South Bekaa, Lebanon., pp. 83-114, Melanges de l'Universite Saint-Joseph, Volume 45, Universite Saint-Joseph (Beirut, Lebanon), 1969.
  13. Copeland, Lorraine & Wescombe, P. J., Inventory of Stone Age Sites in Lebanon (1966) Part 2: North - South - East Central Lebanon, pp 23, 1-174, Melanges de L'Universite Saint-Joseph, Volume 42, Universite Saint-Joseph (Beirut, Lebanon), 1966.
  14. Eugenie Elie Abouchdid (1948). Thirty years of Lebanon & Syria, 1917-1947. Sader-Rihani Print. Co. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  15. Meir Zamir (1985). The Formation Of Modern Lebanon. Croom Helm. pp. 175–. ISBN 978-0-7099-3002-0. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  16. Lebanon Atlas - Rashaya: Tourism in Lebanon, Lebanon Touristic Sites, Rachaya al Wadi, Rashayya Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
  17. Hottinger. University of California Press. pp. 174–. GGKEY:2Z8L6JXTWN3. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  18. George Seldes (30 July 2004). You Can't Print That! the Truth Behind the News 1918 To 1928. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 262–. ISBN 978-1-4179-3909-1. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  19. William Harris (19 July 2012). Lebanon: A History, 600-2011. Oxford University Press. pp. 158–. ISBN 978-0-19-518111-1. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  20. Tony Jaques (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: P-Z. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 841–. ISBN 978-0-313-33539-6. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  21. Garfunkel Z., Zak I., Freund R. (1981). "Active faulting in the dead sea rift". Tectonophysics. 80 (1–4): 1–26. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(81)90139-6.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. Robert E. Holdsworth (1998). Continental transpressional and transtensional tectonics. The Geological Society. ISBN 978-1-86239-007-2. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  23. Heimann Ariel, Eyal Moshe, Eyal Yehuda (1990). "The evolution of Barahta rhomb-shaped graben, Mount Hermon, Dead Sea transform". Tectonophysics. 180: 101–109. doi:10.1016/0040-1951(90)90375-I.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. USAID opens water treatment plants in Bekaa, The Daily Star (Lebanon), July 30, 2007.
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