Deir Mar Youhanna & the First Arabic Printing Press, Khenchara
About
In the high Metn village of Khenchara, the Monastery of St John (Deir el-Tabcheh), motherhouse of the Basilian Choueirite Order, houses the press where the monk Abdallah Zakher printed the first book in true Arabic type in 1734. A five-room museum displays the original presses and some 450 tools and objects, alongside 12th- and 18th-century churches with carved wooden iconostases. It is one of Lebanon's most important — and quietest — cultural landmarks.
Good for
Location
Nearby & similar
Bikfaya Old Town & Mar Abda Church
Red-roofed heritage village around a 16th-century church, a beloved Matn summer resort.
Beit Chabab — Bell Foundry & Pottery Village
Lebanon's last church-bell foundry and old pottery traditions in a Metn hill village.
Ameen Rihani Museum
Heritage-house museum honoring the pioneering Lebanese-American writer.
Our Lady of Bzommar Convent
The oldest Armenian monastery in Lebanon and seat of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate.