- Anjar, Lebanon
-
Anjar
عنجر
ԱնճարRuins of the Umayyad city of Anjar
Location in Lebanon
AnjarCoordinates: 33°43′33″N 35°55′47″E / 33.72583°N 35.92972°ECoordinates: 33°43′33″N 35°55′47″E / 33.72583°N 35.92972°Eregion:LB_type:city Country Lebanon Governorate Beqaa Governorate District Zahle District Government – Mayor Garo Pamboukian Time zone EET (UTC+2) – Summer (DST) +3 (UTC) Official name: Anjar Type: Cultural Criteria: iii, iv Designated: 1984 (8th session) Reference #: 293 State Party: 
LebanonRegion: Arab States Anjar (Arabic: عنجر, Armenian: Անճար, meaning "unresolved or the running river"), also known as Haoush Mousa (Arabic: حوش موسى), is a town of Lebanon located in the Bekaa Valley. The population is 2,400,[1] consisting almost entirely of Armenians. The total area is about twenty square kilometers (7.7 square miles). In the summer, the population swells to 3,500, as members of the Armenian diaspora return to visit there.
Contents
History
Ruins of Umayyad palace
Anjar was resettled in 1939 with several thousand Armenian refugees from the Musa Dagh area of Turkey. Its neighborhoods are named after the six villages of Musa Dagh: Haji Hababli, Kabusia, Vakif, Khodr, BekYoghun Oluk and Bitias. The Syrian Army chose it as one of its main military bases in the Beqaa Valley and the headquarters of its intelligence services.
Religion and education
The majority of Anjar's Armenians are Armenian Apostolics (Orthodox) who belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church and Holy See of Cilicia. Armenian Apostolic Saint Paul Church is the second largest Armenian church in Lebanon.[2]
The Armenian Apostolic community has its own school, Haratch Calouste Gulbenkian Secondary School. In 1940, the chief editor of the Armenian newspaper Haratch in Paris, Shavarsh Missakian, organized a fundraising campaign among the Armenians living in France which enabled the building of the "Haratch" Elementary School next to the newly established St.Paul church. The official opening of the school took place in 1941. The administration of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation contributed to the expansion of the school, which was named in honor of Calouste Gulbenkian.
Our Lady of the Rosary Armenian Catholic Church in Anjar serves as church for the Armenian Catholics, who also run the Armenian Catholic Sisters School. In the beginning, the school had two divisions, St. Hovsep for the male students and Sisters of Immaculate Conception for the female students. In 1954, these departments were united. 1973 saw the official opening of the Aghajanian Orphan House, already serving as an Armenian Catholic orphanage since 1968.
The Armenian Evangelical Church of Anjar is in operation to serve Anjar's small Armenian Evangelical community. The Protestant community school was established in 1948 by Sister Hedwig Aienshanslin as part of her missionary work in Anjar. In 1953, the school, which had already become an intermediate school, was promoted into a secondary school. It has day classes as well as boarding facilities for students from other regions who stay there throughout the winter.
Anjar antiquities
Formerly known as Gerrha, a stronghold built by Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid ibn Abdel Malek in the 8th century, the site was later abandoned, leaving a number of well-preserved ruins. The present-day name derives from Arabic Ayn Gerrha, or "source of Gerrha". The ruins have been recognized as a World Heritage Site.
See also
- Franco-Armenian relations
References
External links
- Official Website of Anjar
- Anjar, Archnet Digital Library.
- Website about Anjar
- Lebanon, the Cedars' Land: Anjar
- Ya Libnan | Lebanon News | Spotlight on Anjar
- Photos of Anjar ruins
World Heritage Sites in Lebanon Byblos · Anjar · Baalbek · Ouadi Qadisha (the Holy Valley) and the Forest of the Cedars of God (Horsh Arz el-Rab) · Tyre
Armenian diaspora Armenian populations by countryFormer Soviet Union Azerbaijan (Nakhichevan) · Belarus · Estonia · Georgia (Abkhazia / Javakheti / Tbilisi) · Kazakhstan · Kyrgyzstan · Latvia · Lithuania · Moldova · Russia · Tajikistan · Turkmenistan · Ukraine (Crimea) · UzbekistanAmericas Europe Middle East Asia Africa Oceania Archaeological sites in LebanonAadloun • Aaiha • Aammiq • Ain Harcha • Akbiyeh • Amioun • Anjar, Lebanon • Antelias cave • Ard Tlaili • Arqa • Baalbek • Batroumine • Batroun • Beirut • Beit Mery • Byblos • Dahr El Ahmar • Dakoue • Deir El Aachayer • Deir el Ahmar • Dekwaneh • Douris (Baalbek) • Elaea (Lebanon) • Hadeth south • Haret ech Cheikh • Hashbai • Hermel plains • Iaat • Jabal es Saaïdé • Jbaa • Jdeideh • Jebel Aabeby • Jeita Grotto • Joub Jannine • Jieh • Kamid al lawz • Kaukaba • Kefraya • Kfar Qouq • Kfarhata • Ksar Akil • Labweh • Lake Qaraoun (Ain Jaouze) • Lion Tower • Majdal Anjar • Mansourieh • Maronite mummies • Mayrouba • Moukhtara · Mtaileb · Nabi Zair • Nachcharini • Neba'a Faour • Niha Bekaa • Qaraoun • Ras Baalbek I • Ras Beirut • Ras El Kelb • Sands of Beirut • Sidon • Sin el Fil • Sarepta • Stone of the Pregnant Woman • Tahun ben Aissa • Tell Ain Nfaikh • Tell Ain Saouda • Tell Deir • Tell el-Burak • Tell Khardane • Tell Jisr • Tell Mureibit • Tell Neba'a Litani • Tell Zenoub • Tell Zeitoun • Temple of Bacchus • Temple of Eshmun • Toron • Tripolis (region of Phoenicia) • Tyre Necropolis • Tyre, Lebanon • Yanta • Ain W Zain • Zahlé •Categories:- World Heritage Sites in Lebanon
- Populated places in the Beqaa Governorate
- Zahle District
- Archaeological sites in Lebanon
- Armenian diaspora communities
- Former populated places in Lebanon
- Umayyad palaces
- Tourism in Lebanon
- Visitor attractions in Lebanon
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
