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Harissa, a statue of Our Lady of Lebanon with her arms outspread over Jounieh Bay, is one of the country’s most renowned manmade landmarks. In fact, When the Patriarach Elias Hoyek and Mgr Carlos Duval, the Apostolic Delegate in Lebanon, decided to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Immaculate Conception dogma declared on the 8th of December 1854, they both formed the project of setting up a statue of the Virgin on the hill of Harissa. The statue was made in Lyon; it is of bronze covered with white paint and of 8 meters and a half long. The statue arrived to Beirut in 1906 on board of a big ship.

Lady of harissa

The construction of the sanctuary was finished on the third of May 1908, with the tower-piedestal of 20meters high. On that day, the virgin was proclamed Sovereign of the mountains and seas, and Queen of Lebanon. It is the most visited sanctuary in Lebanon, and many come walking from far away. Harissa is also accessible via a new highway carved into the side of the mountain, or via the “telepherique”, a cable car and funicular railway carrying visitors from Jounieh coastline, 600 meters up to the mountain peak. There are two noteworthy churches on the site, a modern cathedral, and a small chapel right under the statue. The view is simply "breathtaking"!

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