Mzaar Kfardebian

Mzaar Kfardebian (Arabic: مزار كفردبيان‎‎ — formerly Faraya Mzaar) is a ski area in Lebanon and the largest ski resort in the Middle East. It is located one hour away from Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. It is also referred to as Ouyoune el Simane.

In 1960, Sami Geammal, Emile Riachi and a group of pioneers installed the first ski lift imported from Switzerland, on the "refuge" hill and built the first four chalets in the region. One year later, they bought 160,000 square metres (40 acres) of property from Prosper Gay-Para in order to expand the resort area.

In 1963, the Faraya Mzaar - Tourism and Winter Sports Company was launched with Sheikh Salim El-Khazen as the principal shareholder and financed by banker Joseph Abdo Khoury who later became the company Chairman and General Manager. The company acquired the concession to build and operate ski lifts on lands belonging to the Kesrouan district municipalities. In 1965, the Mzaar Hotel opened its doors, and the company installed the first Chairlift on the Jabal Dib Hills. The junction between "Refuge" and "Jabal Dib" was achieved in 1968 through the installation of the resort's third lift which was named "Jonction". In the 1980s, during the civil war, the Mzaar Company was taken over by the Saudi Group al Mabani led by Fouad Rizk and Nehme Tohme. In 1993, after the Lebanese civil war ended, the new group started the expansion of the resort when a three-seat chairlift was installed reaching the Mzaar peak, the highest peak of the area, and more chairlifts were to follow. In 2012, the resort's number of lifts reached 20 (including 7 lifts installed in the "Wardeh" area created in 1999) with around 80 kilometres (50 mi) of slopes.

"Mzaar" is the Arabic word for sanctuary. The highest mountain in Ouyoune el Simane was called "jabal el mzaar" (mountain of the sanctuary) after a small Roman temple built on its top. It is believed that the Romans were using fire as signals to communicate between the coastal area and Baalbeck, or Heliopolis, through Faqra and the Mzaar peak. The temple was totally destroyed during the civil war (1975-1990) and its stones were stolen. The real name of the area is Ouyoune el Simane (Meaning Simane springs) and it is administratively under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Kfardebian, which is also the case for the Faqra area, although the resort is commonly but inaccurately referred to as "Faraya-Mzaar" or "Faraya".

...
Wikipedia