Batroun Villages

A village in mid-Batroun District, 18 km distant from the City, at an altitude of 750 m. it can be reached from Batroun via Ijdabra, Bejdarfel, Kour valley and Sourat.
Its parish church "Lady Naya" (Saydet Naya) dates back to around 1700. To its northern side one can find a small cave engraved in rock, with Byzantine and Syriac paintings and Greek writings on its walls and ceiling. These paintings feature Jesus in the lap of his mother, the Virgin Mary, and an archer pointing his arrow to a monster, supposedly the devil. Part of these paintings was disfigured by the passage of time: their colors blackened because of fire burnt inside the cave. These paintings were restored in year 2007 under the supervision of Italian experts. Outside the cave one can see traces of a painting for Jesus Christ. Assuredly this site dates back in its origins to pagan days because of the canals, sarcophagi, reservoirs and rocky presses still extant nearby. The early Christians made it later a place of worship.