Religious Caza

Religious Caza - Zgharta

The Online Magazine of Zgharta - Zawie

The ancient churches of Bqoofa

Bqoofa is an old village situated east of Ehden and it currently stands on part of Ehden's land.

It was first mentioned in the history written by Patriach Douaihy when he recounts the incidents of 1283 and the Mamluk attack on Ehden. Bqoofa flourished after these incidents because of its fertile and extensive lands, and its Maronite inhabitants increased in number.

During a later but undetermined period, most of the inhabitants of Bqoofa, especially those of lower Bqoofa, embraced the Syriac Jacobite faith and built two monasteries and three churches. But the conservative Maronites of upper Bqoofa left the village with the Jacobites for the coastal village of Kfarhawra especially after the incidents of 1488. However the main reason for the emigration of the Maronites from Bqoofa was the persecution they were subjected to from the inhabitants of Zgharta who burned their shrines and monateries.

Above the ruins of Mar Elias. Below left: the Mnastery of the Cross. Below right inside the monastery of the Cross.