Harissa, Lebanon
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Harissa–Daraoun حريصا–درعون |
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|---|---|
| Municipality | |
Skyline of Harissa, 2010
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 Harissa–Daraoun
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| Coordinates: 33°58′52″N 35°39′05″E / 33.98111°N 35.65139°ECoordinates: 33°58′52″N 35°39′05″E / 33.98111°N 35.65139°E | |
| Country |
 Lebanon
|
| Governorate | Mount Lebanon |
| District | Keserwan |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4.35 km2 (1.68 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 550 m (1,800 ft) |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Dialing code | +961 |
Harissa-Daraoun (Arabic: حريصا–درعون) is a municipality that consists of two villages, Harissa and Daraoun, in the Keserwan District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon. The municipality is located 27 km north of Beirut. Its average elevation is 550 meters above sea level and its total land area is 435 hectares. Harissa is accessible from the coastal city of Jounieh either by road or by a nine-minute journey by a gondola lift, known as the Téléphérique. Harissa is home to an important Lebanese pilgrimage site, Our Lady of Lebanon. It attracts both pilgrims and tourists who want to enjoy views of the bay of Jounieh.
Daraoun contains three schools, one public and two private, that enrolled a total of 457 students as of 2008, while Harissa had one public school with 242 students during that same time period. There were eight companies with over five employees operating in Daraoun as of 2008, and two companies with over five employees in Harissa during that same period. Daraoun's inhabitants are predominantly Maronite Catholics, while Harissa has a mixed population of Melkite and Maronite Catholics.
Harissa is a key Christian pilgrimage site with a shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Lebanon (Notre Dame du Liban). In 1904, Patriarch Elias Hoyek, on the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, announced the foundation of the building of Our Lady of Lebanon. The shrine belongs to the Maronite Patriarchate who entrusted its administration to the Congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries since its foundation in 1904. 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 ...” 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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