- Gharios
Gharios (in
Arabic غاريوس, in Greek Γαρíος, pronounced "Ghariyos") is the name of SaintGurias the Ascetic of Edessa (Today Rouha also knows as Orfa or Sanliourfa inTurkey ), martyr of the IV century, he died in 305 AD. It is also the name of one of the most socially and economically prominent families inLebanon rooting back their ancestries to theSheiks Chemor of Kfarhata (former christian inhabitants of Akoura and rulers of Zgharta). Their religion ismaronite christian and they are of direct legitimate descendance of theChristian Ghassanids . Their hometown isChiyah , a predominantlyChristian town located in the southern suburbs of the capitalBeirut bordered by Haret-Hreik, Ghobeiry, Hadath and Furn-el-chebbak.History
The family Gharios of
Chiyah is formally called “"Gharios Habbaki Chemor"” due to the village of Beit Habbak in the region ofByblos . This Habbaki family is issued from the prestigious “Chemor” family of Kfarhata-Zgharta.The Chemors of Kfarhata have the title of Sheiks. They were the inhabitants of Akoura in the mountains of
Byblos between 1211 and 1633 and the rulers of Zgharta-Zawiya between 1641 and 1747. Their ancestors were theGhassanids , aChristian tribe that dwelled in theArabian Peninsula . After being displaced fromYemen because of a natural disaster, they settled in theHouran region ofSyria . They have allied themselves to theByzantines as protectors of the South. Past the Islamic conquest of the region, they sought refuge inLebanon . Their first stay was in Akoura (Byblos district) then they moved to Kfarhata in 1641.At the beginning of the eighteenth century, some troubles occurred between the
Sheiks Chemor and the Daher family. As a result a member of the Chemors was compelled to flee the village and take refuge in a small over sighted village in the uphill ofByblos , Beit Habbak. He went there with his four sons and his unique daughter. The latter got married with the son of the concierge although her family did not accept it. Her brothers had killed her husband and were once again obliged to run away from the village. The first one went to the mountainous village of Baskinta and because he was coming from Beit Habbak, he was called “Habbaki” which with time became “"Hobeika"”. The second one, Ferjane Chemor, had the courage to stay in Beit Habbak. Today, his offspring is known as the family “"Ferjane"”.The last two brothers, Farhat and Gharios went to the suburbs of Beirut where water is available and citrus trees are abundant. Farhat Chemor is today survived by a large family in Hadath today known as the family “"Farhat"”. Gharios Chemor went toChiyah in 1757. His son Antoun took the name of his father as his family name like his uncles. We don’t know if Antoun had brothers or sisters but we are sure that he had two sons: Fares (confirmed on the19 April 1849 ) and Youssef (confirmed in 1852).Today
A century ago, the land of
Chiyah was mainly covered with citrus trees interspersed with manor houses owned by the finest and richest families ofChiyah . The manor house of the family Gharios was situated at the BoulevardCamille Chamoun in front of today’s lead statue. This mansion was owned by the parish priest of the village Youssef Gharios who was born between 1830 and 1850 directed the church of Saint Michael ofChiyah since 1877.He is now survived by his descendants that remained attached to their land and few of them immigrated to
Colombia ,Chile and theUnited States . Today, the Gharios family play an important role at the fore-front of the Lebanese society; their businesses are spread in all the country and distributed in very different sectors.ee also
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Chiyah
*Sheiks Chemor
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