The hook
A deep holy gorge where hermits and Christian communities carved monasteries into the cliffs, above it a surviving grove of the ancient cedars that once covered these mountains and gave Lebanon its emblem.
01Why it's worth it
The cedar of Lebanon is the country's national symbol, printed on its flag, and though the great forests that supplied the timber of the ancient world are long gone, a grove of the oldest and largest survives high in the northern mountains, the "Cedars of God," some of the trees many centuries old, dark and dignified in the thin mountain air. Below them plunges the Qadisha, the "Holy Valley," a dramatic gorge that has sheltered Christian monastic and hermit communities for well over a thousand years, its cliffs dotted with monasteries, chapels, and caves carved into the rock, a refuge for the Maronite church through centuries of persecution. Hiking the valley between the cliff monasteries, with waterfalls and terraced villages, and standing among the ancient cedars above, connects the natural and the sacred in a way few places do. In winter the surrounding heights even offer skiing.
02How to experience it
Walk the Qadisha Valley trail between its cliff monasteries and villages, and visit the ancient cedar grove above at Bsharri. Give it a relaxed day or two, staying in a mountain village. Summer for the hiking and forest; the heights turn to a ski area in winter.