The History of Abadieh
The name of Abadieh, is derived from the people who work hard, which could mean that it was agricultural area since ancient times, or it could be derived from the large number of monks who used to live in its area...
As for the town of Abadieh, its history dates back to ancient times, as evidenced by old buildings and some archeological sites such as the Al-Hosn area, the inscriptions at the entrances of some houses, the water springs and the old Abadieh centers, as well as the ancient commandments and some cases recorded by the historians Suleiman AbuEzzEddine and Najla AbuEzzEddine and others ...
The road leading to Abadieh reached the beginning of the era of Al-Mutasiriya, in the twenties of the 19th century. It was called the Old Sham Road, which passes between Al-Abadieh and Beit Mery. The railway was passing through Arayya and Shwayet through Al-Abadieh to Bhamdoun and then to Dahr al-Baydar.
Electricity introduced to Abadieh in 1936 by a private company (owned by George Bayda), having obtained the privilege of delivering electricity to Abadieh.
The Abadieh River flows, which is characterized by strong springs, most notably the water of Ain Al-Dilba. The villagers used the water to drink and also to operate the wheat mills that were in the town.
The road leading to Abadieh reached the beginning of the era of Al-Mutasiriya, in the twenties of the 19th century. It was called the Old Sham Road, which passes between Al-Abadieh and Beit Mery. The railway was passing through Arayya and Shwayet through Al-Abadieh to Bhamdoun and then to Dahr al-Baydar.
Electricity introduced to Abadieh in 1936 by a private company (owned by George Bayda), having obtained the privilege of delivering electricity to Abadieh.
The Abadieh River flows, which is characterized by strong springs, most notably the water of Ain Al-Dilba. The villagers used the water to drink and also to operate the wheat mills that were in the town.
An indication of the history of Abadieh is the existence of some old religious centers, represented by the center of the Sheikh Hussein Madi, who lived in the era of Ahmed Pasha butcher, and Christian churches that have a distinctive character indicates their heritage and high value, mentioning:
Church of Saint John the Maronite (1810)
St. George Church of the Orthodox Roman (1810)
Church of St. Peter the Maronite (1901)
Mar Elias Maronite Church (1921)
The history of Abadieh goes back hundreds of years, but it has been known as a town for nearly 400 years. This is evidenced by the existence of a collection of ancient monuments, for example the 450-year-old Ain Dayaa and Ain Qurna mill facing the Lamartine Valley, but this later has been completely removed due to new buildings!
The first school was established in Abadieh before the First World War. It was a foreign school established by the Mission of Mrs. Brown. After that, teacher Abdul Nour came to establish another school. He was from Bhamdoun and a graduate of the American University. The current public school was established in 1922, it was elementary and later an official secondary after the municipality of Abadieh gave a land area of 23 thousand square meters to the Ministry of Education, so Abadieh is one of the first villages that opened to science and knowledge, an indication that also from the beginning of 1885, a large number of its people studied in American University of Beirut.
Since the 1920s, people of Abadieh moved to the capital to find jobs and obtain school and university degrees.
Since the beginning of the First World War, the migration from Abadieh to the country of Australia, Sudan and Egypt, but not a large proportion compared to the rest of the towns, is due to the fact that Abadieh is an agricultural town since ancient times and had a large agricultural wealth of vegetables and fruit. Grapes after Zahle and Bhamdoun, which led to a good financial return and the lack of need for alienation and migration.
In 1937 Abadieh established the first agricultural cooperative in Mount Lebanon to manage production and facilitate farmers' affairs, and it still exists today as the Association for Agricultural Cooperation.
In the past, Abadieh was known for its cultivation of silk warms and a silk factory (Karakhana). It was therefore one of the largest villages interested in silk, but this agriculture became extinct in the 1860s.
The first municipal council in Abadieh in the late Ottoman period (1879) under the reign of Rustom Pasha.
In Dhour al-Abadieh, there are some historical houses known as the houses of Al-Mass'ad, which date back to the Ottoman era, as they were centers for some of the Ottoman leaders and later the French during the mandate.
There are two main springs in Abadieh: Ain al-Dia'a and Ain al-Jawzat
There are small eyes, some of which have disappeared completely: Ain Hamad, Ain al-Loufi, Ain Niha, Ain al-Hajar, Ayn al-Qurna, Ein al-Bustan…
Geographical Location
Abadieh is location in Baabda Disrtict in Southern Metn and east of Beirut
From the north: the Metn River and part of the Beirut River
From the West: A section of the Beirut River and the Shuit Real Estate area
From the East: Al-Hilal, Ruwaisat Al-Balout and Baaleshmeh Real Estate
From the South: Beirut - Damascus International Road
The height of the town ranges from a minimum level of 230 meters above sea level to a maximum of 1050 meters.
There are three main entrances to the town from the international road:
Arayya Road and Shweit and to Baalshmieh.
Al-Mafraq, known as the Neeha branch located in the southern part of the town on the international road.
The town of Abadieh, with an area of about 1,000 hectares, is a major civil society center for the neighboring towns of Aaryya, Shweet, Helaliyah, Ruwaysat al-Balout, Baalshmiyeh, Muzayra, Ain Muwafaq and Ras al-Harf.
Abadieh is about 15 km away from Beirut.
Abadieh is the largest village in the Upper Metn villages that stretches from Arayya to Kafr Elwan, both in terms of land area and population.
Population
The population of Abadieh is estimated at 14,000
There is no official statistical data indicating the population of Abadieh, and therefore the figure reached by the study is based on the write-off regulations of the original Abadieh population and on the results of the forms and investigations carried out in the framework of this study. These data indicate that the population of Abadieh is estimated at 14000 persons, this number includes both indigenous and unregistered people in the Deletion Regulations, the other Lebanese Arabs living in the areas of Dhour al-Abadieh and Zahhar and Lebanese citizens who occupy these areas for their summer residences and weekend days.
The history of the families of the slaves: Abadieh more than thirty-five families, according to alphabetical order, family: abou Jawdeh – abou Habib – abou Hamra – abou hamzeh - abou Shdid – abou Aassi – abou EzzEddine – al-Khoury – al-Sultan - Andari - Najjar – Nemr – Barakeh, Boughader - Hamdan - Zahr - Salama - Salloum - Shukr - Abdel Nour - Adnan - Faraj - Karam - Kassab - Madi - Makarem – Najd…