Aintoura (; Syriac: ܥܝܢܛܘܪܐ) is a town and municipality in the

Keserwan District Keserwan District (, transliteration: ''Qaḍā' Kisrawān'') is a district (''qadaa'') in Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, Lebanon, to the northeast of Lebanon's capital Beirut. The capital, Jounieh, is overwhelmingly Maronite Christian. The area ...

of the

Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate Keserwan-Jbeil () is the most recently created governorate of Lebanon. It consists of the districts of Jbeil and Keserwan. Keserwan-Jbeil covers an area of and is bounded by the North Governorate to the north, the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate to ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. It is located 18 kilometers north of

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. The average elevation of Aintoura is 230 meters above the sea level and its total land area is 71

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s. Its inhabitants are predominantly

Maronite Christian Lebanese Maronite Christians (; ) refers to Lebanese people who are members of the Maronite Church in Lebanon, the largest Christian body in the country. The Lebanese Maronite population is concentrated mainly in Mount Lebanon and East Beir ...

History

Aintoura, which means "the water spring of the mountain" (ܥܝܢܛܘܪܐ) in Syriac, is a very old village inhabited, as tools found in two of its historic grottos witness, since the Stone Age. More recent history shows that Aintoura has been inhabited between 1307 and 1515, and since 1657 when people started living there on a continuous basis. Main Religious Centers of Attraction: The Convent of the Visitation: Founded in 1746, it was a convent for nuns, which was instituted in 1862, and was the first school for girls in the entire region. May Ziadeh, a well-known scholar, graduated from this school. The Cemetery of Armenian Orphans: This cemetery, hosted within the walls of Saint- Joseph College in Antoura, is the resting home for more than three hundred Armenian children who had died from typhus during World WarI, after having been lodged in the College. At the time, Lebanon was an integral part of the Ottoman Empire, and Saint Joseph College had been morphed into an orphanage, its church into a first aid center, and its tower into a minaret. Also, the Turks had proceeded to changing the names of those orphans into Arabic names, while making them follow Islam.

Geography

Aintoura is located 21 km north of Beirut (Capital of Lebanon), in the heart of Mount Lebanon. From an elevation of 250m, it overlooks green, pine covered valleys on one side, and the Mediterranean Sea on the other. Aintoura spreads over 760.000 square meters, is home to 3200 inhabitants, and enjoys a very mild climate.

Education

The village of Aintoura is known for hosting the first school of the Middle East. Saint-Joseph College of Aintoura was the first school of the Middle East, founded in 1653. For uncountable years, it has hosted sons of legions of notables from all over the region: Iran, Egypt, Cyprus, Syria and Turkey. Christians, Muslims, and Jews, sons of political foes, all grew side by side, became friends, shared the same values, thanks to an education that gave proper respect to ethical and moral values, while respecting personal differences. the teachings have had a lasting effect on the political developments in the region. Several public figures had studied in Saint Joseph College of Antoura, namely three former Lebanese Presidents,

Suleiman Frangieh Suleiman Kabalan Frangieh (15 June 1910 – 23 July 1992) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 5th president of Lebanon from 1970 to 1976. Early life and education Suleiman Frangieh was a scion of one of the leading Maronites, Maronite f ...

, Rene Mouawad, and

Elias Sarkis Elias ( ; ) is the hellenized version for the name of Elijah (; ; , or ), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books. Due to Elias' role in the scriptures and to many later associated tradit ...

, May Ziadeh,

Kamal Jumblatt Kamal Fouad Jumblatt (; 6 December 1917 – 16 March 1977) was a Lebanese politician who founded the Progressive Socialist Party. He led the National Movement during the Lebanese Civil War. He was a major ally of the Palestine Liberation Organ ...

, Ghassan Tueni, Maurice Gemayel, and many others... Antoura, as a village, has, therefore, a proper higher learning institution, not a simple village school. this institution has been rearing, every year, around 3800 students from several neighboring areas. The Lebanese Canadian University LCU, founded in 2000, has been graduating around 1500 students every year with degrees in Business, Sciences, Arts and Humanities in partnership with internationally renowned universities such as l'Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV, Grenoble Ecole de Management, IPAC France& Switzerland, Université du Quebec in Montreal, and Université de Sherbrooke in Canada.

References

External links

Antoura's Official WebsiteCollège Saint Joseph AntouraLebanese Canadian University-LCU
{{Authority control Populated places in Keserwan District Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon