Amsheet

Amsheet
عمشيت
Amchit
City
Map showing the location of Amsheet within Lebanon
Amsheet

Location within Lebanon

Coordinates: 34°09′00″N 35°39′00″E / 34.1500°N 35.6500°E / 34.1500; 35.6500Coordinates: 34°09′00″N 35°39′00″E / 34.1500°N 35.6500°E / 34.1500; 35.6500
Country  Lebanon
Governorate Mount Lebanon
District Jbeil
Area
 • Total 5.95 km2 (2.30 sq mi)
Elevation 140 m (460 ft)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Dialing code +961
Website www.aamchit.com (Municipality of Amchit)

Amsheet (عمشيت, ʿAmšīt; also spelled Amchit) is a seaside town and municipality in the Jbeil District of Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon, about 40 km north of Beirut. The town's average elevation is 140 meters above sea level and its total land area is 595 hectares.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Maronites, although there is a Shia Muslim minority.

There are many old churches in Amsheet (more than a hundred and some old synagogues)

Demographics

Amsheet's population is around 25,000. The majority of the inhabitants are Maronite Christians.[2] However, there is a significant Shia Muslim minority, who largely moved to Amsheet from predominantly Shia villages in the nearby mountains. Most Shia in Amsheet live in the Kfar Saleh neighborhood.[3]

Economy

There are 29 companies in Amsheet that employ at least five people.[1] Amsheet is known for its baskets and mats woven from palm leaves. Olive and citrus fruits are the main agricultural products of the town.

Education

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There are two public schools with a total of 966 students in 2006 and three private schools with a total of 1,099 students in Amsheet.[1] Schools in the town include:

Landmarks

The house of Zakhia family where Ernest Renan stayed, the French philosopher who lived in Amsheet for a long period in the 19th century, can be visited, аs can the tomb of his sister who was buried at St. Marie Church in the Zakhia family Cemetery.Also the house of Raphael Lahoud built in 1838,Gabriel Lahoud and Michel Lahoud.The oldest school in Lebanon of Adib Lahoud.

The Church of Saint George was built on an ancient temple and the altar has both Greek and Arabic inscriptions.[4] The adjoining churches of Saint Sophie and Saint Stephen retain their ancient vaulted porches and wall paintings. The churches were built on the remains of a Roman temple.

Saint-Michel Amsheet Hospital

The Church of Saint Nicholas (Mar Zakhia) has medieval wall paintings and was built in the 5th century.

Tourism

The town is home to Lebanon's only organized coastal campsite, "Camping Les Colombes", a place with a history since its beginning in the 1950s. Amchit is also known for its delicious seafood restaurants located on all the coast. The most popular ones are Faras El Baher, Chez Zakhia, Mhanna Sur Mer, Le Cap.

Environmental issues

See Oil pollution from ships in Amchit.

Notable residents

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Aamchit". Localiban. Localiban. 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  2. ↑ "Elections municipales et ikhtiariah au Mont-Liban" (pdf). Localiban. Localiban. 2010. p. 19. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  3. ↑ Cammett, Melani; Issar, Sukriti (July 2010). "Bricks and Mortar Clientalism: Sectarianism and the Logics of Welfare Allocation in Lebanon". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. doi:10.1353/wp.0.0056.
  4. ↑ Tourism @ Lebanon.com
  5. ↑ Patent EPO EP169445 , USPTO US7,594,523 B3 , Wire forming Technology magazine SUMMER 2009 page 32 & WINTER 2010 page16, FENCING OBSERVER magazine DECEMBER 2012 pages 10-17. The Design Trophies BATIMAT 2007.
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