๐ฑ๐ง Batroun (ูฑููุจูุชูุฑููู al-Batrลซn; ืึดืชืจืึนื Biแนฏron "the Cleft") is a coastal city in northern Lebanon and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the capital city of Batroun District.
Etymology Batroun appears in Western Aramaic, and is attested in as bแนฏrwn (ุจุซุฑูู) in premodern Arabic texts, with the expected lenition of t for an Aramaic term. Elie Mardini suggests the shift of the th to t in Aramaic terms in the Levant is due to the merger of certain fricatives in Levantine Arabic.
Economy Historically, the city of Batroun was settled at the interface between the sea and the national road that connected Beirut to Tripoli.
Lately, the radical shift of the historical functions of the local economic tissue into a leisure service-based economy (nightclubs, bars, restaurants, stores, etc.) has become the unique and only lever of the development of the city. The economic metamorphosis has resulted in the resettlement of housing towards emerging city suburbs (nearby hills: New Batroun, Batroun Hills, Basbina, etc.) consequently to the overvaluation of the real estate market in the city centre. It clearly reveals here the constitution of a business city-centre (dedicated to leisure and business) balanced by the constitution of residential suburbs, where accelerated urban sprawl has led to the destruction of natural lands (pinewood and orange groves) and to the fatal rise in land prices.
Economy: Tourist Industry Batroun is a major tourist destination in North Lebanon. The town boasts historic Maronite and Greek Orthodox churches. The town is also a major beach resort with a vibrant nightlife that includes pubs and nightclubs. Citrus groves surround Batroun, and the town has been famous (from the early twentieth century) for its fresh lemonade sold at the cafรฉs and restaurants on its main street. Biking along the Batroun coastline is also a major activity namely in late summer days. In 2009, the Batroun International Festival was born. It began hosting leading local and international artists. The festival takes place usually in July and/or August of each year in the old harbor area.
Demography The people of Batroun are mainly Maronite, Melkite, and Greek Orthodox Christians. Batroun is a Roman Catholic (Latin rite) Titular See.
History Batroun is likely the "Batruna" mentioned in the Amarna letters dating to the 14th century B.C. Batroun was mentioned by the ancient geographers Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, Stephanus of Byzantium, and Hierocles. Theophanes the Confessor called the city "Bostrys".
The Phoenicians founded Batroun on the southern side of the promontory called in classical antiquity Theoprosopon and during the Byzantine Empire, Cape Lithoprosopon. Batroun is said to have been founded by Ithobaal I (Ethbaal), king of Tyre, whose daughter Jezabel (897โ866 B.C.) married Ahab.
The city was under Roman rule to Phoenice Province, and later after the region was Christianized became a suffragan of the Patriarch of Antioch.
In 551, Batroun was destroyed by an earthquake, which also caused mudslides and made the Cape Lithoprosopon crack. Historians believe that Batroun's large natural harbor was formed during the earthquake.
Three Greek Orthodox bishops are known to have come from Batroun: Porphyrius in 451, Elias about 512 and Stephen in 553 (Lequien, II, 827). According to a Greek Notitia episcopatuum, the Greek Orthodox See has existed in Batroun since the tenth century when the city was then called Petrounion. After the Muslim conquests of the region, the name was Arabicized to Batroun.
Batroun was controlled by the Crusaders in 1104, to be known as the Lordship of Botrun as part of the County of Tripoli, until it was conquered by the Mamluk Sultanate in 1289. One of Batroun's archaeological sites is Mseilha Fort, which is constructed on an isolated massive rock with steep sides protruding in the middle of a plain surrounded by mountains.
Under Ottoman rule, Batroun was the centre of a kaza in the mutessariflik of Lebanon and the seat of a Maronite diocese, suffragan to the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch. Since 1999, it has been the seat of the Maronite eparchy.
Landmarks โข The Ancient Sea Wall โข El-Bahsa beach โข Makaad El Mir โข El-Mseilha Fort โข St. Stephan's Cathedral โข Historic Souk
Batroun has a population of over 45,000 people. Batroun also forms the centre of the wider Batroun District which has a population of over 51,200 people. It is also a part of the larger North Governorate.
To set up a UBI Lab for Batroun see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
๐บ๐ธ Sunland-Tujunga 34.258
๐บ๐ธ Northridge 34.243
๐บ๐ธ North Hills 34.236
Locations Near: Batroun 35.65,34.25
๐ฑ๐ง Jounieh 35.635,33.986 d: 29.4
๐ฑ๐ง Tripoli 35.85,34.433 d: 27.4
๐ฑ๐ง Zouk Mikael 35.6,33.967 d: 31.8
๐ฑ๐ง Zgharta 35.9,34.4 d: 28.4
๐ฑ๐ง Jdeideh 35.567,33.883 d: 41.5
๐ฑ๐ง Bourj Hammoud 35.533,33.883 d: 42.2
๐ฑ๐ง Broummana 35.617,33.867 d: 42.7
๐ฑ๐ง Beirut 35.509,33.874 d: 43.8
Antipodal to: Batroun -144.35,-34.25
๐ต๐ซ Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 18085.7
๐ฆ๐ธ Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16561.4
๐น๐ด Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 16662.7
๐ผ๐ธ Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16445.1
๐บ๐ธ Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 13906.6
๐บ๐ธ Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 13770.1
๐บ๐ธ Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 13751
๐บ๐ธ Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 13750.3