Baakleen or Baakline ( ar, بعقلين) is a major

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings o ...

town located in

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

, Chouf District, 45 kilometers southeast of

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. Altitude 850 – 920 meters high, population is 30,000, area 14 square km, number of homes 2,870. Bordering Towns: Deir El Qamar, Beit Eddine, Aynbal, Deir Dourit, Symkanieh, and Jahlieh.

History

Founded in the 12th century by the Maan emirs, Baakline served as their capital until the early 17th century when its most famous Emir Fakhreddin II, moved to

Deir el Qamar Deir al-Qamar ( ar, دَيْر الْقَمَر, lit=Monastery of the moon, translit=Dayr al-qamar), is a city south-east of Beirut in south-central Lebanon. It is located five kilometres outside of Beiteddine in the Chouf District of the Mount ...

. Today, Baakline is an important

town and seat of the sect's religious leader. The beautiful grand serail, the main administrative building of Baakline before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, has been restored and transformed into a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

. In the area of the Serail are some

religious buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries, including, ancient tombs and Ain Aldiaa water source. The roots of Lebanon as we know it today go back to Baakline. Around the year 1120 A.D., Amir Maan Ibn Rabeaah, the great grandfather of Amir Fakher Eddine Al Maani the second who established “Lubnan Al Kabeer”, settled in Baakleen. He was supported by his in-laws, the Tanoukhyeen. Amir Maan was married to the daughter of Amir Noaaman Al Tanoukhy. Historians agree that Baakleen was the capital of the Maani Emirate. Due to water shortages in Baakline, the Maani Amirs were attracted to Neighboring Deir Al Kamar (according to Druze archives, called Dar Al Kamar), where they built many palaces and a mosque that still stands in the middle of the town square carrying the name of Amir Fakher Eddine Ibn Othman Ibn Al Hajj Younis Al Maani (1493 AD). The last of the Maan family Amirs was Amir

Ahmad Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the v ...

who died in 1697 A.D. and with his death, the rulers of the Emirate became the

Shihab family The Shihab dynasty (alternatively spelled Chehab; ar, الشهابيون, ALA-LC: ''al-Shihābiyūn'') was an Arab family whose members served as the paramount tax farmers and local chiefs of Mount Lebanon from the early 18th to mid-19th centu ...

who were tied to the Maan family through intermarriages and alliances. Under the Ottoman rule, Baakline came back to the forefront as one of the “Qasabat” or major towns. It served as the summer capital for the Druze “Qaem Makqam” or the local governor in the name of the

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its he ...

. On 21 April 2020, nine people were killed.

Waterfalls and river

Blue waterfalls of Shallalat el Zarka

The blue waterfall is called Shallalat Al Zarka, by which the restaurant in this place holds the same name. One can also see other magnificent waterfall and river in the village of Baakline. File:Baakline Waterfalls and river 02.jpg, Blue waterfalls of Shallalat el Zarka File:Baakline Waterfalls and river 03.jpg, Blue waterfalls of Shallalat el Zarka File:Baakline 04.jpg File:Baakline 05.jpg, Independent house of the restaurant File:Baakline 06.jpg, Stairs to access parking at the restaurant through the river and waterfalls File:Baakline 07.jpg, Stairs from parking to independent houses and to the restaurant

References

External links

Baaqline
Localiban {{Authority control Populated places in Chouf District Druze communities in Lebanon