also spelled Maasser Ech Chouf · elevation ~1174 m
Maaser El Chouf is in the Chouf District of Mount Lebanon, about 56 km from Beirut, about a 55-minute drive. Its closest Chouf neighbours are Khraybeh (~3.3 km), Batloun (~3.7 km) and Barouk (~4.5 km).
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Maaser el-Chouf is a village in the Chouf district of Mount Lebanon, ranked among the five largest villages in the district by area. Its cedar forest is one of three localities — alongside Barouk and Ain Zhalta-Bmohray — whose forests make up the Al-Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve.
Maaser el-Chouf sits on the eastern slope of the Chouf range at the edge of the Al-Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve, Lebanon's largest. Its cedar grove is among the reserve's oldest, which has long made the village a gateway for visitors to the protected forest.
2,000 years old, about
Next to the old cedar forest, archaeologists have found the columns and bases of a large Roman temple. A culture ministry official told AFP it dates to between the first century BC and the second century AD.
Source: AFP in Asharq Al-Awsat
2017 the first report
The village municipality reported huge stone blocks on the hill in 2017. Five years later, a team from an Italian university began digging, and the temple came to light.
Source: AFP in Asharq Al-Awsat
The same official said the site became a Crusader fortress between the 12th and 13th centuries. It sat on a network of roads from the Mediterranean coast to the Bekaa.
Source: AFP in Asharq Al-Awsat
Food Heritage says studies show people have lived in Maasser since the 4th century BC. It dates the El Hosn ruins to the Roman era by the tombs cut into the rock there.
Source: Food Heritage: Maasser el Shouf
In Arabic, Maaser means presses. Destination Shouf says the village long made wine and olive oil, and ties the name to that work.
Destination Shouf says Maasser stopped making its wine for some decades, until a local family started again by hand under the St. Michael name.
1975 the last year it ran
A press and distillery opened in Maasser in the 1930s. It gave people in the area wine, vinegar, olive oil and molasses until 1975.
Source: Destination Shouf: Maasser
Under Ottoman rule, Maasser was known for its vineyards, used for wine and arak, and for mulberry orchards that fed silkworms.
1860 about, when it was built
Around 1860 a stone watermill was built in the Marjeh area. It ground wheat flour for Maasser and the villages nearby, and its walls still stand.
Source: Destination Shouf: Maasser
The trail towards Moukhtara passes a deserted water mill and an Ottoman bridge that joins the two sides of the valley between Maasser and Botmeh.
Unconfirmed The mill's age differs: Food Heritage says the late 19th century, No Garlic No Onions the 16th century or before.
Sources: Food Heritage: Maasser el Shouf · No Garlic No Onions: Maasser el Chouf
St Michael's church and convent are the two main religious buildings in Maasser. A local judge, Boutros Noujaim, oversaw the building of the convent across from the church. It has since become a guest house.
Sources: Destination Shouf: Maasser · Food Heritage: Maasser el Shouf
Arabic Wikipedia says many people believe the Maasser trees are the "cedars of God", rather than those of Bsharri.
The oldest cedars of the Shouf are famous for their age, but the numbers written about them differ widely.
Unconfirmed Destination Shouf says the Shouf holds the world's oldest cedar, at around 4,000 years. We found no dating study for that figure.
Source: Destination Shouf: Maasser
The Maasser Park House is the headquarters of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve, so the reserve is run from the edge of this village.
14 km from Barouk
Section 19 of the Lebanon Mountain Trail runs 14 km between Barouk and Maasser. Walking south from Barouk means 1,067 m of climbing and a "very difficult" rating. The other way, it is 668 m and "difficult".
Source: BAM: LMT section 19
12,000 visitors in 2018
The Jabalna Association held its fifth dabke festival in Maasser on 1 September 2019. It said the 2018 edition drew 12,000 visitors, and it wanted a National Dabke Day every first Sunday of September.
15 council members
Arabic Wikipedia says the municipal council has 15 members, Druze and Christian, and that the two communities share the mayor's term, half each.
One of the cedar groves of the Al-Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve and, with the Barouk forest, holds its largest stands of ancient trees, some thought to be well over a thousand years old. The reserve marks close to the southern limit of natural cedar growth in Lebanon.
~56 km from Beirut · ~55 min drive
The town of Maaser El Chouf is in the Chouf district of Mount Lebanon, Lebanon, at around 1174 m elevation.
Maaser El Chouf sits about 1174 m above sea level.
Maaser El Chouf is about 56 km from Beirut, roughly a 55-minute drive.
Maaser El Chouf is roughly 30 km from Saida (Sidon) in a straight line.
Landmarks in Maaser El Chouf include Maaser el-Shouf cedar forest, Maaser el-Chouf Social Health Center.
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