Jouret El Ballout () is a christian village in the

Matn District Matn (, '), sometimes spelled Metn (or preceded by the article El, as in El Matn), is a district (''qadaa'') in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon, east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The district capital is Jdeideh (followed to Jdeideh, ...

in the

Mount Lebanon Governorate Mount Lebanon Governorate () is one of the nine governorates of Lebanon, of which it is the most populous. Its capital is Baabda. Other notable towns and cities include Aley, Bikfaya, and Beit Mery. This governorate is named after the mount ...

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 ...

Etymology

The village of Jouret El Ballout owes its name to its geographical position – a low point surrounded by mountains (Mar Chaaya mountain to the north and Haref mountain to the west): means ''pit'' or ''cavern'' in Arabic. It is also surrounded by tall oak trees (). Therefore, the name is a description of the village: The Pit of Oak Trees.

Location

Jouret El-Ballout is east 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 ...

and covers an area of in the Qada’a of the Northern Metn, in the Mohafaza of Mount Lebanon. It is bordered by Nabay from the west, Deir Mar Cha’aya from the north,

Broummana Broummana () is a town in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon. It is located east of Beirut, overlooking the capital and the Mediterranean. Broummana has long been a summer destination for visitors and locals. It is also ...

from the east and Kannaba Broummana from the south. It is above sea level and it has views of Beirut and the Mediterranean. It can be reached via three different routes:

Mkalles Mkalles ( translit. al-Mkalles) is a town in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Medit ...

- Beit Merry - Broumanna - Jouret El-Ballout,

Antelias Antelias () is a city in Lebanon in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate. It is located around 5 km to the north of Beirut. Etymology The name is originally Greek, ἀντήλιος – from ἀντί(anti) "contra" and ἥλ� ...

- Deir As-Salib - Nabay - Jouret El-Ballout, or Maten highway.

Climate

Summer is usually dry in Jouret El Ballout; it begins in early May and ends in mid-October. Summer temperature rarely exceeds , with a lower limit of around . Its relative humidity in summer runs at 68%. Winter is wet and mild, with temperatures ranging between , with the occasional snowfall. The lowest temperature is variable but the lowest recorded a few years ago was about during a snow storm.

Archeological and cultural sites

Despite the relatively recent inception of the village, remains of several stone and earthen sarcophagi have been found there. The region of A’aranta in Jouret El-Ballout is in fact well known for its archeological wealth: remains of an old fortress were discovered, as well as some Phoenicians and Romanian tombs. Excavation works also showed that wood blast furnaces going back to the Phoenician era existed on this site.

Educational institutions

A public school was founded in the village in 1946, but it closed in 1980s. Today, there are two private schools in Jouret El-Ballout: *Collège Louise Wegmann *Valley International School

References

{{Matn District Populated places in Matn District