| Harissa حريصا |
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| — City — | |
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Harissa
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Lebanon |
| Governorate | Mount Lebanon Governorate |
| District | Keserwan District |
| Highest elevation | 700 m (2,297 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 600 m (1,969 ft) |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Postal code | |
| Dialing code | +961 |
Harissa (Arabic حريصا) is a mountain village in Lebanon. The village, which is located 650 meters above sea level, is home to an important Lebanese pilgrimage site, Our Lady of Lebanon.[1] The village is located 20 km north of Beirut, and accessible from the coastal city of Jounieh either by road or by a nine-minute journey by a gondola lift, known as the "Téléférique". It attracts both pilgrims and tourists who want to enjoy views of the bay of Jounieh.
The pilgrimage 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, 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 mentioning the Byzantine-style, Melkite Greek Catholic basilica of St. Paul, located south of the statue and built between 1947 and 1962. The Apostolic Nunciature (Papal Embassy), as well as the residences of four patriarchs of Eastern Catholic Churches, are in the vicinity of Harissa and Our Lady of Lebanon.[2]
On May 10, 1997, Pope John Paul II visited Harissa.
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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. On this day the Maronite Patriarch and all the Lebanese Bishops celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the open air at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon.
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