Harissa, Lebanon
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- For an article about sauce see Harissa.
Harissa (Arabic حريصا) is an important Lebanese pilgrimage site high above Jounieh, accessible either by a steep winding road or a cable car known as "le téléférique". It attracts both pilgrims as other tourists who want to enjoy views of Jounieh.
The main site is a huge 15 tonne bronze (and painted white) statue of Virgin Mary, known as Notre Dame du Liban/Harissa or Our Virgin of Lebanon, with her arms outstretched. The statue was made at the end of the 19th century and inaugurated in 1908. Inside the statue's base there is a small chapel. A huge modernistic Maronite cathedral built of concrete and glass stands right beside the statue.
Among other churches of various denominations it is worth to mention a Byzantine style Greek Catholic basilica of St. Paul, located south of the statue and built between 1947 and 1962.
On May 10, 1997, Pope John Paul II visited Harissa.
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