Harissa, Lebanon

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Administration
Harissa حريصا
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	Mount Lebanon Governorate
District	Keserwan District
Geography
Harissa Location of Harissa, Lebanon
Elevation	600–700 m (1,969–2,297 ft)

Statue of Notre Dame du Liban.

Basilica of St. Paul.

Harissa (Arabic حريصا) is an important Lebanese pilgrimage site high above Jounieh, located at 650 meters altitude from the coast and 20 km distance from Beirut the capital city; the site is accessible either by a steep winding road or a nine-minute journey by a gondola lift, known as the "Téléférique". It attracts both pilgrims and tourists who want to enjoy views of Jounieh.

The main site is a huge 15-ton bronze (and painted white) statue of Virgin Mary, known as Our Lady of Lebanon or Notre Dame du Liban/Harissa or Our Virgin of Lebanon, with her arms outstretched. The statue was made at the end of the 19^th 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 mentioning the Byzantine-style, Melkite Greek Catholic basilica of St. Paul, located south of the statue and built between 1947 and 1962. The Papal Embassy, as well as the residences of four Eastern Catholic cardinals church, are in the vicinity of Harissa and Our Lady of Lebanon.^[1]

On May 10, 1997, Pope John Paul II visited Harissa.

[edit] Founding

In 1904, Patriarch Elias Hoyek, at the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception announced the foundation of the building of Our Lady of Lebanon. The original church was built by Sleiman Yakoub Hokayim from Batrun. The mountain is called Harissa (after the village at the peak of the mountain). When it was inaugurated in 1908 the Patriarch dedicated Lebanon to the Virgin Mary: "Oh Mary, Queen of mountains and seas and Queen of our beloved Lebanon….” The Patriarch Hoyek designated the first Sunday in the month of May as the Feast of Our Lady of Lebanon. It is when the Maronite Patriarch and all the Lebanese Bishops celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the open air at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon.[1]