discover
Faith, Culture & Facts
El Kfeir (also written Al-Kfeir or Al-Kfayr) is a mountain village in the Hasbaya District of Southern Lebanon, sitting roughly 900 meters (about 3,000 feet) up the slopes of Mount Hermon (Jebel Al-Sheikh). Its dense pine forests, olive groves, and fruit orchards give way to mild, foggy summers and cold, snow-heavy winters.
A Village of Two Faiths
Unlike much of South Lebanon, Kfeir and the wider Hasbaya District have their own distinct religious makeup: the village is nearly evenly split between a Greek Orthodox Christian community (with a smaller Melkite Greek Catholic presence), centered around the historic Saint George Church, and a long-established Druze community, with a revered local prayer site dedicated to Nabi Shuaib (the Prophet Jethro). The two communities share a deep history of coexistence in the village.
Renowned Olive Oil
Kfeir's terraced hillside groves produce olive oil considered among the finest in Lebanon.
The Cradle of Genius
Kfeir carries the nickname "the Cradle of Genius" in Lebanon and among the diaspora, for producing an unusually high number of internationally recognized writers, journalists, and intellectuals — most notably Emily Nasrallah (1931–2018), one of the Arab world's most celebrated novelists, whose childhood home in the village has been preserved as a cultural museum.
