Located in Jbeil District of Mount Lebanon Governorate, 71 kilometres (44 mi) northeast of Beirut in Lebanon, is a village that has always been known for its great myths… In this article, we travel with you in Afqa, that has an average elevation of 1,200 meters above sea level, and a total land area of 934 hectares.
Once you reach that place, you are welcomed by a soft breeze and a beautiful canvas, which you can view in our panorama picture above. A vast landscape and a clean nature in a country that has been suffering from a garbage crisis for a long time now.
Sir James Frazer describes the village at Afqa in his 1922 book, The Golden Bough as
“…the miserable village which still bears the name of Afqa at the head of the wild, romantic, wooded gorge of the Adonis. The hamlet stands among groves of noble walnut-trees on the brink of the lyn. A little way off the river rushes from a cavern at the foot of a mighty amphitheatre of towering cliffs to plunge in a series of cascades into the awful depths of the glen. The deeper it descends, the ranker and denser grows the vegetation, which, sprouting from the crannies and fissures of the rocks, spreads a green veil over the roaring or murmuring stream in the tremendous chasm below. There is something delicious, almost intoxicating, in the freshness of these tumbling waters, in the sweetness and purity of the mountain air, in the vivid green of the vegetation.
We saw sheep and shepherds taking care of them in Afqa, thistle plants… beautiful, colored ones… We also bumped into a cute donkey on our way. Everything is amazing in that place that was said to be so beautiful due to the death of Adonis, as the myth mentions. It says that a wild pig killed Adonis, and his blood made nature bloom there. The famous Afqa river and Afqa cave, is where Adonis’ lover waited for him…
This is just a myth, but in reality, you will find a breathtaking landscape, vivid blue sky, and colorful plants that protect themselves by thistles so that humans do not harm them… You can sit down for a picnic there in the midst of abundant pine trees filling the place.
Afqa; one of the places still not destroyed by harsh human actions… Let’s try to take care of the place every time we go there.
