Village of Abdelli and Meghrak (the Worshipper of Il)

Abdelli is a quiet little village two thousand feet up in the prefecture of Batroun and forty miles north of the capital Beirut. It has a history going back more than 1,200 years, enjoys a healthy climate and benefits from the surrounding nature.

There are three sources for the name which should be noted: the words are Syriac and Aramaic, denoting slave of sorrow and mourning; slave of the sick and the weak; and slave of God, in Phoenician El or II.

The village stands on a hill from where one can see open horizons all around, embracing the sea, the surrounding mountain tops, a rocky wilderness, and cultivated terraces stretching into the distance with orchards of vines, olive trees, apricot trees and fig trees, interspersed with clumps of woodland oak trees, poplars, cypresses and pines. The houses, weathered by time, have great particular charm.

Abdelli is a village which has a soul, after having suffered greatly during the First World War particularly because of the famine which afflicted Mount Lebanon. It was literally emptied of its inhabitants. Not a single person survived the terrible famine. The streets were strewn with corpses. A few children were able to flee towards Tripoli and some managed to emigrate. The whole region of Batroun suffered most during this war, so the name Abdel-Il is the best expression of the fate of the people.

The inhabitants of Abdelli have a quality which I find difficult to express. They have certain purity, kindness, spirit of hospitality and understanding, traits which are common in some degree to all the people of the region of Batroun, from the coast-line right up to the mountain summits. I became aware of this in my earliest days when for some years I was studying in the school of the Marist Brothers. The pupils from the surrounding countryside were all friendly, welcoming and open.

In order to reach Abdel-Il, two routes are possible. One may go from Batroun town through Abrine and Bejdarfel; or alternatively through Rashana and Kfifane. Then once you have reached Abdelli, and had a look around the village, you must at all costs go and see the Meghrak, a small marsh where there is a copse of trees standing in the very water. This is an enchanting place of fairy beauty, which from the beginning of winter is submerged in water. Local people call it the Happy Place. It belongs to the Abi Nader family, who has inherited it from an ancestor. Doctor Hanina Abi Naader has opened the place to the public and has in mind to make it a non-profit tourist attraction.

As the area is poorly supplied with water, down the centuries the inhabitants have dug out immense reservoirs among the rocks in order to collect and hold the rain water. These reservoirs still exist.

In the village there is a large parish church dedicated to Saint George and also a number of small private chapels named after Saint Simon, Saint Alias and others, belonging to various families. There is a long-standing school in the village which is now empty, once run by the Saint Theresa Sisters. Since the pupils started going on to the high school in Batroun for their secondary studies, it has closed its doors.

Abdelli and Abrine are two villages in the area of Batroun which are well-known for their bakeries with their crisp bread much appreciated as it is baked in the old way in special locally made ovens.

Abdelli is well worth a visit for any sight-seers.

Joseph Matar
Translation from the French: Kenneth Mortimer

- The village of Abdelli: >> View Movie << (2018-02-28)
- Al Meghrak: >> View Movie << (2018-02-28)