- Harissa, Lebanon
:"For an article about sauce see
Harissa ."Infobox City Lebanon
State Party = LBN
official_name = Harissa
native_name = حريصا
governorate = Mount Lebanon Governorate
district = Keserwan District
elevation_m_lo = 600 |elevation_m_hi=700
mapx = 33.97
mapy = 35.67Harissa (Arabic حريصا) is an important Lebanese
pilgrimage site high aboveJounieh , located at 650 meters altitude from the coast and 20 km distance fromBeirut the capital city; the site is accessible either by a steep windingroad or a nine-minute journey by agondola lift , known as the "Téléférique ". It attracts both pilgrims and tourists who want to enjoy views of Jounieh.The main site is a huge 15-ton
bronze (and painted white)statue ofVirgin Mary , known asOur Lady of Lebanon or "Notre Dame du Liban/Harissa" or "Our Virgin of Lebanon", 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 smallchapel . A huge modernistic Maronitecathedral built ofconcrete andglass 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 Papal Embassy, as well as the residences of four Eastern Catholic cardinals church, are in the vicinity of Harissa andOur Lady of Lebanon . [ [http://www.teleferiquelb.com/profile.htm Profile of Harissa] ]On
May 10 1997 ,Pope John Paul II visited Harissa.Founding
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 fromBatrun . 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. It is when the Maronite Patriarch and all the Lebanese Bishops celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the open air at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon. [http://www.mountlebanon.org/bulletin/bulletin.doc]Notes
External links
* [http://www.harissa.info/ The Lady of Lebanon - Harissa]
* [http://www.opuslibani.org.lb/link/shrine.htm OpusLibani]
* [http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2982 Pope's visit in Lebanon]
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