Kaftoun

Infobox City Lebanon
official_name = Kaftoun
native_name = كفتون


image_size = 150px
governorate = North Governorate
district = Koura District [http://www.kaftoun.com/ Kaftoun] (Arabic: كفتون ) is a small Lebanese village located along the north bank of the Nahr el Jaouz (Walnut River), in the Koura District, North Lebanon.The population of the Village is approximately three-hundred, spread around seventy-four houses. They are mostly of Antiochian Orthodox Christians Ancestry.The name "Kaftoun" in the ancient Aramaic language means "dug from" or "sculpted from" a cliff. In the ancient Syriac language, (Kftuna) means "the domed". Both roots of the word lead us to believe that the village of Kaftoun was named after the domed [http://www.kaftoun.com/component/option,com_jgal/section,kaftoun/Itemid,52/func,viewcategory/catid,71/ Theotokos Monastery] which is carved in the red rock cliffs by the banks of the Jaouz River.

Kaftoun has three historic churches: Saint Phokas Church ( [http://www.kaftoun.com/content/view/19/51 Mar Foka's] ), the Church of Saint Sergius and Bacchus ( [http://www.kaftoun.com/component/option,com_jgal/section,kaftoun/Itemid,52/func,viewcategory/catid,92/#pic Mar Sarkis] ) 6^th century, and the most famed [http://www.ortmtlb.org.lb/aplet2/kaftoun_slide.htm Theotokos Monastery] , which houses a two-sided [http://www.ortmtlb.org.lb/theotokos.htm Byzantine icon] from the 11^th century.