Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve - Qehmez entrance محميّة جبل موسى الطبيعية مدخل قهمز Hike in Lebanon

Описание: Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve - Qehmez entrance محميّة جبل موسى الطبيعية مدخل قهمز - Hike in Lebanon

Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve is located in Kesrouan District, Lebanon, on the shoulders of the western slopes of Mount Lebanon Chain, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea to the West. It covers an area of 6500 hectares, at an altitude ranging between 350 meters in the North-West and 1,700 meters in the South-East. Its main villages are Yahchouch, Qehmez, Jouret el Thermos, Nahr ed Dahab, Ghbale, Aabri, and Chouwan.

Cultural and Natural Heritage
Jabal Moussa and its surroundings present spiritual and historical sites integrated into their natural environment.
Such sites include Adonis Valley as the site of the death of the god Adonis according to Phoenician mythology, Roman Stairs in Mchati and Ghineh, rock carvings by Emperor Hadrian dating back to the 2nd century AD in Mchati and Broqta where certain types of trees were ordered to be protected, the remains of old houses isolated in the mountain, an abandoned Ottoman settlement comprising a water mill, farms and an olive press by the river in Chouwan, a Byzantine Church that includes a mosaic in Ghineh, the Adonis rock in Ghineh showing the killing of the God Adonis during a hunt, the Mar Geryes Monastery built on the remains of a Roman temple and a cross erected at the mountain summit in 2000.

Jabal Moussa presents a rich cultural and natural heritage. It is home to at least 727 flora species, of which 26 are endemic to Lebanon, and 6 to Jabal Moussa. It is also a Global Important Bird Area, and more than 137 migratory and soaring bird species have been recorded so far. Rare and threatened mammals have found shelter in the rugged mountain, ranging from bats to wolves and hyenas, adding to more than 20 species.