The heart of the village
Community
Around two thousand people call Bchaaleh home, and as many again carry its name across the world.
A village that always comes back
More than two thousand people belong to Bchaaleh today. Many spend the winter on the coast between Amchit and Beirut, and come home on weekends and all summer long, when the village fills with voices again.
The families of Bchaaleh fall into three groups, as the old saying goes: those that have disappeared, those that have spread across the world, and those that stayed and branched out.
The families of Bchaaleh
- Abi Hanna
- Abi Mansour
- Abi Rizk
- El Achi
- Alwan
- El Arif
- Barakat
- Bassil
- Bou Mansour
- Chalfoun
- Chedid
- El Chidiac
- Dagher
- Dib
- Doumit
- Fares
- Francis
- Geagea
- El Hani
- Hanna
- El Helou
- Kabalan
- El Khoury
- Mansour
- Maroun
- Nassar
- Rizk
- Sakr
- Sleiman
- Tadros
- Tarabay
- Wehbe
Bchaaleh around the world
Antonios Bechaalany, whose family name points back to Bchaaleh, is honoured as the first Lebanese emigrant to America: he left in 1854, and a memorial was raised to him in New York. Between 1890 and 1924 some two hundred Bchaalanis followed, to the United States, Uruguay, Argentina, Egypt, Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador, and later to Canada and Australia.
On 12 December 1918 the emigrants founded the Bchaalany Society in Los Angeles. Others made their mark far from home: Antonio Doumit, called the "king of shoes" in Mexico, paid for electricity for his village in 1956.
The Sports and Cultural Club
Founded on 10 May 1966, the Sports and Cultural Club of Bchaaleh has brought the village together for generations. Its sports tournaments and cultural evenings have become a yearly tradition that every Bchaalani, and every friend of Bchaaleh, looks forward to. To get in touch with the club, call +961 3 524 343.
The club on Facebook →The village calendar
Every chapel has its feast. Here are the dates the whole village keeps.
Mar Risha
Mass at the restored chapel
Sacred Heart
Procession from St Stephen's to the statue
Mar Doumit
Evening Mass and village celebration
Mar Mama
Evening Mass for the departed
Mar Touma
First Sunday of October, with the bishop
Mar Sarkis & Bakhos
Mass under the tall pines
Mar Estephan
Feast of the parish patron