Bsharri cedars forest — Virtual Tour
At nearly 2,000 metres above sea level, on the slopes of Mount Makmel, a small cedar forest survives within a landscape that was once far more extensively wooded.
East of Bsharri, the Forest of the Cedars of God — Horsh Arz el-Rab is one of the most emblematic remnants of Lebanon’s ancient cedar forests. Together with the Qadisha Valley, it has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.
Here, the landscape speaks less of abundance than of survival: ancient trees, bare mountain slopes, and the memory of a forest that has gradually receded over the centuries.
Explore Bsharri Cedars Forest in 360°
This 360° view places you within a forest that has become almost an enclave in the mountain.
The cedars rise beneath the high summits of Mount Lebanon, close to the deep relief of the Qadisha Valley. The panorama reveals the contrast between the monumental presence of the trees and the exposed mountain landscape around them.
Bsharri, a forest of survivors
UNESCO describes the Forest of the Cedars of God as one of the last remnants of Lebanon’s ancient cedar forests. The trees that survive today preserve the memory of a much larger forest, long regarded as sacred and valued for its timber.
This long history does not mean that the trees visible today can be directly linked to the timber cargoes that once left the port of Byblos. Ancient and archaeological sources document the exploitation of Lebanon’s forests and the circulation of timber across the eastern Mediterranean, but they do not always identify the precise mountain forests from which individual shipments came.
Bsharri therefore belongs to a wider story: that of a forest world that once extended much further across the mountains of Lebanon.
By the late nineteenth century, the remaining grove had become vulnerable enough to require protection. Patriarch Boulos Massaad appealed to Rustom Pasha, governor of Mount Lebanon, and a stone enclosure was built around the forest to prevent further cutting.
That wall marked a change in perspective. After centuries in which cedar had largely been valued as a resource, the surviving trees were increasingly regarded as something to preserve.
Bsharri holds both stories at once: the memory of a forest that disappeared, and the survival of what remains.
Photo Gallery — The cedars of Bsharri
For the wider story connecting these mountain forests with Byblos: Byblos and the Cedar — from the mountains to the Mediterranean.
Sources and references
UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Ouadi Qadisha (the Holy Valley) and the Forest of the Cedars of God (Horsh Arz el-Rab) — heritage status, historical importance and the surviving cedar forest.
UNESCO — World Heritage nomination documentation, property no. 850 — historical protection of the forest and the intervention of Patriarch Boulos Massaad and Rustom Pasha.
Melkan Bassil — At the Heart of Our Forests, “The Cedars of Bsharri” — earlier photographic and editorial work on the forest and its landscape. Your book already described Bsharri as a small forest of surviving trees beneath the high peaks of Mount Lebanon.
Visit Byblos aims to provide documented content based on identified sources. Some information may nevertheless evolve as research advances and new discoveries are made. Documented corrections or additional information are welcome.
Explore Lebanon’s other cedar forests and discover, step by step, the landscapes in which the cedar has endured through the centuries. Jaj, Tannourine, Bsharri and the Shouf: each panorama reveals a different relationship between the tree, the rock and the mountains.
Move along the line to discover another virtual tour.