Rayfoun (; also spelled ''Reifun'' or ''Raifoun'') is a village and municipality located 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 ...

. The village is about 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 ...

. It has an average elevation of 1,050 meters above sea level and a total land area of 189

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. Rayfoun's inhabitants are predominantly

Maronites Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally resided near Mount ...

. Rayfoun is the hometown of Maronite Patriarch

Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir ('; ; ; 15 May 1920 – 12 May 2019) was the 76th Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch and the Whole Levant and head of the Maronite Church from 1986 to 2011. He was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1994. E ...

and the Ottoman-era peasant leader

Tanyus Shahin Tanyus Shahin Saadeh al-Rayfouni (also spelled ''Tanios Chahine Saadé Al Rayfouné'', given name also spelled ''Taniyus'' or ''Tanius''; 1815–1895) was a Maronites, Maronite muleteer and peasant leader from Mount Lebanon. He led a peasants' re ...

References

Populated places in Keserwan District Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon {{lebanon-geo-stub