Marjayoun

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title: "Marjayoun" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-the-israeli-security-zone-1985–2000", "israeli–lebanese-conflict", "populated-places-in-marjayoun-district", "eastern-orthodox-christian-communities-in-lebanon", "melkite-christian-communities-in-lebanon", "sunni-muslim-communities-in-lebanon"] topic_path: "geography/israel" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjayoun" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
nameMarjayoun
native_nameمرجعيون
settlement_typeMunicipality
image_skylineSouth Lebanese town Marj a'Youn (FL45807470).jpg
image_captionChurch in Marjayoun, 1977
pushpin_mapLebanon
pushpin_label_positionleft
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Lebanon
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_name
subdivision_type1Governorate
subdivision_name1Nabatieh Governorate
subdivision_type2District
subdivision_name2Marjayoun
unit_pref
area_total_km2
area_land_km2
population_as_of2022
population_total7,000-10,000
population_blank2_titleReligions
population_blank2Greek Orthodoxy
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Baniyas
Maronite Catholicism
Greek Catholicism
Latin Catholicism
Shia Islam
Sunni Islam
Druze
timezoneEET
utc_offset+2
timezone_DSTEEST
utc_offset_DST+3
coordinates
grid_position135/158 L
elevation_footnotes
elevation_m860
elevation_ft2,822
postal_code_type
::

| name = Marjayoun | native_name = مرجعيون | settlement_type = Municipality | image_skyline = South Lebanese town Marj a'Youn (FL45807470).jpg | image_caption = Church in Marjayoun, 1977 | pushpin_map = Lebanon | pushpin_label_position = left | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Lebanon | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = | subdivision_type1 = Governorate | subdivision_name1 = Nabatieh Governorate | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Marjayoun | area_magnitude = | unit_pref = | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_km2 = | population_as_of = 2022 | population_footnotes = | population_note = | population_total = 7,000-10,000 | population_blank1_title = | population_blank1 = | population_blank2_title = Religions | population_blank2 = Greek Orthodoxy Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Baniyas Maronite Catholicism Greek Catholicism Latin Catholicism Shia Islam Sunni Islam Druze | timezone = EET | utc_offset = +2 | timezone_DST = EEST | utc_offset_DST = +3 | coordinates = | grid_position = 135/158 L | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 860 | elevation_ft = 2,822 | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code = | website = | footnotes =

Marjayoun or Jdeidet Marjayoun (: Lebanese pronunciation ), also Marj 'Ayoun, Marjuyun or Marjeyoun (lit. "meadow of springs") and Jdeideh / Jdeida / Jdeidet Marjeyoun, is a municipality in the Marjeyoun District, Nabatieh Governorate in Southern Lebanon.

History

Crusader period

On 10 June 1179, during the Battle of Marj Ayyun, the Ayyubids defeated the Crusaders. The Crusader king narrowly escaped capture.

Ottoman period

In 1596, 'Jadida' appears in the daftar of Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin in the liwa' (district) of Safad, as a Muslim village of 28 households and 12 bachelors. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues" and a press for olive oil or grape syrup; a total of 9,606 akçe.

In 1875 Victor Guérin visited Marjayoun (which he called Djedeideh), and found 2,000 inhabitants, mostly "Schismatic Greek" (i.e. Melkite Uniats), but also some Greek Orthodox and Muslims.

Saint Peter's Cathedral, built in 1892, was restored in 1968 after a fire. It was also later restored in 2009.

20th–21st centuries

During the Syria-Lebanon Campaign of World War II, British and Australian forces advancing from Palestine entered the town on 11 June 1941, but were forced to withdraw on 15 June following a Vichy French counterattack. The Allies recaptured the town on 24 June in the Battle of Merdjayoun.

Marjayoun was the headquarters of the South Lebanon Army, the militia that controlled southern Lebanon during Israel's occupation of the region after the 1982 Lebanon War until its withdrawal from the region in 2000. Following the pullout, many residents of Marjayoun fled to Israel, fearing accusations of collaboration.

On 10 August 2006, after the breakdown of ceasefire negotiations in the 2006 Lebanon War, Israeli forces took control of Marjayoun. The next day, a convoy of 3,000 people fled from the town. The convoy was attacked by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) northeast of Hasbaya en route to Kefraya, in the south of the Bekaa valley. The bombing killed at least seven people, and is known as the Marjayoun convoy incident.

Geography

Marjayoun is 860 m above sea level, standing on the west side of the Jordan Rift Valley just across from the ancient regional capital, Caesarea Philippi, which was located at the foot of Mount Hermon on the east side of the Rift Valley.

Marjeyoun stands on a hill facing Mt Hermon to the east, the Crusader castle of Beaufort, set above the Litani River and overlooking Mount Amel (Jabal Amel), to the west, the Mount Lebanon range with the Rihan and Niha peaks to the north, with the fertile Marjeyoun plains extending southward into the Galilee plains and the Golan Heights.

Demographics

In 2014 Christians made up 74.36% and Muslims made up 25.36% of registered voters in Marjayoun. 39.05% of the voters were Greek Orthodox, 18.98% were Greek Catholics and 19.69% were Sunni Muslims.

The town of Marjayoun has a Christian majority population of about 5,000 people. Greek Orthodox Christians compose the vast majority of the town's population, however, there are also Maronite and Greek Catholic Christians living in Marjayoun. Many Marjayouni Christian families trace their roots to the Hauran region, in present day Syria. Outside the town, most villages in the surrounding valleys and mountains are predominantly Shia Muslim.

The Melkite Saint Peter's Cathedral was built in 1892 and restored in 1968 after a fire and in 2009. Marjayoun is the seat of the Melkite (Greek Catholic) Archeparchy of Baniyas, which includes the southeastern part of Lebanon.

Parliamentary representation

The district of Marjayoun, which includes the town, is largely Shia Muslim. It holds three seats in the Lebanese government, two belonging to Shia Muslims and one belonging to Greek Orthodox Christians.

Hospital

Marjayoun is home to a regional government hospital founded in 1960, and a Lebanese Red Cross First Aid Center. This government hospital was closed due to Israeli attacks to Lebanon in October 2024 and killed and injured number of hospital staff.

Marjayoun Airfield

An abandoned airfield is located 10 km south of Metula. Ruins of buildings and outline of the runways and taxiway are all that remains. In a strategic triangle linking Lebanon with Israel and Syria are located the ruins of "Marjayoun Airport" or what is known as "Al-Marj Airport" or "English Airport". The green color of the Marjayoun Plain is only disturbed by forgotten walls from the days of World War II, their hard stones separating the fertile agricultural lands of the Marjayoun Plain. During the Second World War, the region of the Marjayoun Plain formed an arena of confrontation between the allies on one side and the German army on the other, so the allies had to fortify themselves, specifically in the Marjayoun Plain, which was a defensive area or a back line of confrontations if Egypt fell into the hands of the German army, or if the German Army managed to advance into Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.

Notable people

Climate

|metric first=y |single line=y |collapsed = Y |location = Marjayoun, elevation 773 m |Jan high C = 11.1 |Feb high C = 11.8 |Mar high C = 14.3 |Apr high C = 18.3 |May high C = 22.6 |Jun high C = 25.5 |Jul high C = 26.7 |Aug high C = 27.7 |Sep high C = 26.0 |Oct high C = 23.8 |Nov high C = 18.7 |Dec high C = 13.3 | year high C = |Jan mean C = 8.3 |Feb mean C = 8.6 |Mar mean C = 10.8 |Apr mean C = 14.3 |May mean C = 18.3 |Jun mean C = 20.8 |Jul mean C = 22.2 |Aug mean C = 23.0 |Sep mean C = 21.5 |Oct mean C = 19.6 |Nov mean C = 15.1 |Dec mean C = 10.1 | year mean C = |Jan low C = 5.9 |Feb low C = 6.0 |Mar low C = 7.9 |Apr low C = 10.6 |May low C = 14.1 |Jun low C = 16.6 |Jul low C = 18.2 |Aug low C = 19.1 |Sep low C = 17.7 |Oct low C = 16.1 |Nov low C = 12.3 |Dec low C = 7.9 | year low C = |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 193 |Feb precipitation mm = 181 |Mar precipitation mm = 129 |Apr precipitation mm = 73 |May precipitation mm = 26 |Jun precipitation mm = 1 |Jul precipitation mm = 1 |Aug precipitation mm = 1 |Sep precipitation mm = 3 |Oct precipitation mm = 24 |Nov precipitation mm = 91 |Dec precipitation mm = 162 |year precipitation mm = | source 1 = FAO{{cite web | url = https://www.fao.org/land-water/land/land-governance/land-resources-planning-toolbox/category/details/fr/c/1028000/ | title = World-wide Agroclimatic Data of FAO (FAOCLIM) | publisher= Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations | access-date = 21 December 2024}}

References

Bibliography

  • {{cite book |last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin |title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine |url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr00gugoog|volume=3: Galilee, pt. 2|year=1880|publisher=L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}}
  • {{cite book |author= HRW|author-link= Human Rights Watch|title= Why They Died: Civilian Casualties in Lebanon During the 2006 War|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8P9-VqpNRv4C|year= 2007|publisher= Human Rights Watch}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Hütteroth |first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth |last2=Abdulfattah|first2=K. |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah |title=Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ |year=1977 |publisher=Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft |isbn=3-920405-41-2 }}
  • {{cite thesis|type=PhD |last=Rhode|first=H.|authorlink=Harold Rhode |date=1979|url=https://www.academia.edu/2026845|title=Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century|publisher=Columbia University|access-date=2017-12-04|archive-date=2020-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301141739/https://www.academia.edu/2026845/The_Administration_and_Population_of_the_Sancak_of_Safed_in_the_Sixteenth_Century|url-status=dead}}
  • {{cite book |last=Riley – Smith|first=J.|author-link=Jonathan Riley-Smith |title=The Feudal Nobility and the Kingdom of Jerusalem 1174 – 1277|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdCvCwAAQBAJ|year=1973|publisher=The Macmillan Press Ltd.|location=London|isbn=0-208-01348-2}}

References

  1. Nasr, Amin K.. (2020-01-01). "Battle of Marj Ayyun, 1179 CE". Ancient History Encyclopedia.
  2. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 182
  3. Note that Rhode, 1979, p. [https://www.academia.edu/2026845/The_Administration_and_Population_of_the_Sancak_of_Safed_in_the_Sixteenth_Century 6] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-10-10 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9)
  4. Guérin, 1880, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr00gugoog#page/n321/mode/1up 281]-281
  5. "Cathédrale Saint-Pierre 🇱🇧".
  6. Jean Tsadik. (2001). "Facétie de l'histoire (suite)".
  7. Coulthard-Clark, Chris. (1998). "Where Australians Fought: The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles". Allen & Unwin.
  8. Hirst, David. 1999. South Lebanon: The war that never ends? ''Journal of Palestine Studies'' 28(3).
  9. Wedeman, Ben. (2024-06-24). "'This area has a geographical curse': Residents along Lebanon's border with Israel fear another war".
  10. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/10/mideast.main/index.html CNN.com – Sources: U.S., France agree on peace plan – August 10, 2006]
  11. HRW, 2007, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=8P9-VqpNRv4C&pg=PA160 160]-166
  12. "التوزيع حسب المذاهب للناخبين/ناخبات في بلدة الجديدة، قضاء مرجعيون محافظة النبطية في لبنان".
  13. Schayegh, Cyrus. (2017-08-28). "The Middle East and the Making of the Modern World". Harvard University Press.
  14. "In South Lebanon, a Christian Town Somberly Faces the Future".
  15. "Cathédrale Saint-Pierre".
  16. [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dbany.html Archeparchy of Bāniyās (Melkite Greek)] at catholic-hierarchy.org, accessed 27 July 2020
  17. "Facebook".
  18. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060212084701/http://www.dm.net.lb/redcross/our_centers.html "Our Centers – First Aid Centers"], Lebanese Red Cross
  19. (5 October 2024). "Three hospitals in Lebanon forced to close amid Israeli bombing".
  20. "«المطار الإنكليزي» في مرجعيون: آثار منسيّة من الحرب العالمية الثانية".
  21. (1 November 2019). "ديمة قندلفت تكشف جنسية والدتها الحقيقية: أمي لبنانية".

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populated-places-in-the-israeli-security-zone-1985–2000israeli–lebanese-conflictpopulated-places-in-marjayoun-districteastern-orthodox-christian-communities-in-lebanonmelkite-christian-communities-in-lebanonsunni-muslim-communities-in-lebanon