Annaya Monastery of Saint Charbel

Charbel Makhlouf was a Maronite monk who lived at Annaya from 1859 and spent his last twenty-three years as a hermit in a cell above the monastery, dying in 1898. He was canonised in 1977 and his tomb here draws pilgrims from across the region and beyond, Christian and Muslim alike, in very large numbers. The site includes the monastery church with the tomb, the hermitage up the slope where he lived, and a museum of his cell and belongings.

What you actually see

• The tomb - Saint Charbel's grave in the monastery church.
• The hermitage - the cell up the slope where he spent his last years.
• The museum - his belongings, vestments and the room he died in.
• The mountain setting - oak and pine slopes at around twelve hundred metres.

When to go

April to November is the comfortable season. The feast on the third Sunday of July brings enormous crowds. Winter can bring snow to the access road.

Honest expectations

On feast days and summer Sundays the site is extremely crowded and parking becomes chaotic. Modest dress is required and enforced. Commercial stalls around the approach are heavy.

Nearby

Byblos is down on the coast, and the Adonis valley is south.