The Village of

A L E Y



Aley city is situated on the west side of west mountains of Lebanon, where the Mediterranean sea is viewed, 17 kilometers far from the capital of Lebanon "Beirut", in which Beirut-Damascus highway passes through that connects between the two capitals. It is 800-900 meters above sea surface, for this it is distinguished for being near to Beirut, and in the same time it has a moderate climate in winter and summer time.

Through time it was famous for being "the Lebanese bride of summer", for this many people aim to viist during all seasons to enjoy their best times.

So if they search entertainment they can find it in attending parites with singers under the starry sky with mast preferred singers, in restaurants and cafes that satisfy them all.

And if they seek rest and calmness, they can find in Aley pure air that is produced by pine trees scattered in around and within the city.
Many important events are held during all times, like industrial and commercial fairs with the participation of many Arabic and foriegn countries, in addition to arts competition "Symposium of Sculpture" which is held as a yearly tradition, in which many artists participate who gave their best and left their great memorised works.

Aley includes a branch of "Central Bank of Lebanon" and branches of important commercial Lebanese and other countries, in addition to many industrial, agricultural, medical, commercial and touristic services.

Above the clouds . . .

http://www.aley.com/images/album/DSCF0013.JPG

http://www.aley.com/images/album/DSCF0010.JPG

http://www.aley.com/images/album/DSCF0016.JPG

http://www.aley.com/images/album/DSCF0047.JPG

http://www.aley.com/images/album/DSCF0018.JPG

http://www.aley.com/images/album/DSCF0049.JPG

At night:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/rhmud/cd3dc103.jpg

its really nice there is some really nice views from there , that last pic i thought that was in Beirut ! i just thought aley was just a small town

^^ Nope, Aley has become a bustling tourist city filled with hotels, shopping centers, and restaurants.

^ Yeah.. Aley has normaly lots of tourists from the Gulf..

Some residential neighborhood in Aley:

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/3094/aley1iw2.jpg (http://img86.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aley1iw2.jpg)
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/7408/aley3dm7.jpg (http://img179.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aley3dm7.jpg)

impressive :)

But Aley is a bit bigger than a village Beirut! :P

Nice.

^^ Nope, Aley has become a bustling tourist city filled with hotels, shopping centers, and restaurants.

Beirut, you talked about pine trees there. How is the conditions of Lebanese cedar populations in various parts of Leb.? Are they trying to save it by artificial growing?

It looks like a settlement with nice prospects. Gulfs arabs are probably looser in Lebanon than they are at home :)

^^ Well as in most mountain villages there are many natural forests, but yes of course with time and construction they are getting smaller. Pines are not cedars though, Cedars only remain in certain areas now and although much smaller in numbers now than in historical times, they are very well preserved and taken care of. Also, many new trees are being planted all the time but cedars take generations to grow...


Leb-It, you are right maybe I should change it to "city" since it has grown so much.

Also, these pics dont even begin to show what Aley has to offer, this is only what I could find right now but I will post some more pics later as I find them.

Cedars are not regular pines , but they are a version of pine that are very graceful. They are in the pine family. I am very pleased that they are preserving their national treasure in Lebanon.
Here is a link that shows a Lebanese Cedar subspecies in the wild in this northern mediterrenean country . "Cedrus libani subspecies stenocoma" .
http://www.pinetum.org/PhotoMPF2.htm

The nothern mediterrenean Turkish supspecies is hardier than Lebanese one . There are also one subspecies in Cyprus and another in Atlas Mountains. Very graceful tree indeed & has to be saved in every med. country.

^^ Thanks for the link, yes the cedars are pines but we like to think of them as trees in their own category...(see thread on Cedars of the Lord)

Anyway,

here are some more pics of Aley's main street at night:


http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/1737/dscn2546uu4.jpg

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/9540/dscn2548oc9.jpg

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/6384/dscn2553ky7.jpg

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/1508/dscn2549hd1.jpg

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/5603/dscn2563hf9.jpg

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/4163/dscn2555tn5.jpg

^^ I know Lebanese cedars do have a very special for Lebanon. I liked the statue in the first pic. . This town has a jammed traffic at nights obviously

For me Lebanon has a special mission among arabic speaking countries , hopefully outsider tourist arabs are influenced by this culture and bringing something home.

^^ Hopefully...

And yes, the traffic jam is part of the fun of this city because everyone drives through blasting their music and dancing in their convertibles...

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/3866/aleypg2.jpg

^^ Heavy fog out of the blue is one of the features of Aley.. and it even gets into the houses as I remember once I was inside a house there and i had to use a flahlight :D

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7610/aley1nj7.jpg

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/4681/aley2xq3.jpg

Looks gorge with the fog.
And i love the building in the first post

...

^^ Ohh no...that was a landmark! Do you know why?? Will the site be demolished or reopened under as a new restaurant?

Bad news: Al Janna restaurant in Aley (the one that looks like aladin's palace) closed :ohno:
Good news: Mac Donald's opened in Aley and it was full of people when i passed by it. It have a wonderful terrase and u can all Beirut from there.


this one? if so... :cry: hope they dont demolish it!! its so pretty
http://www.aley.com/images/album/DSCF0047.JPG

^^ Ohh no...that was a landmark! Do you know why?? Will the site be demolished or reopened under as a new restaurant?

I dunno the reason but it's not demolished...yet

this one? if so... :cry: hope they dont demolish it!! its so pretty
http://www.aley.com/images/album/DSCF0047.JPG

Yes, i'm talking about this one

:cry: :cry: dont demolish it!! its sooo pretty

great pics of Aley, great part of Lebanon too :)

Thanks!

courtesy of KSA223

http://filaty.com/i/812/54800/sultanDSCN0995.jpg

http://filaty.com/i/812/85456/sultanDSCN0996.jpg

http://filaty.com/i/812/21772/sultanDSCN1008.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/3340648257_b925a86a6a_b.jpg

^^ no snow in Aley this year :(:(

Some random pics of nature in Aley, pics taken in April


http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/2651/image012kko.jpg
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/7932/image016p.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/766/image025y.jpg[/CENTER]


Aley is the best at springtime

aley is one of the best places in libnan, there is so much spirit there. especially this year with all the carnivals, hundreds of people walking between cafes, its awesome. but at the same time there is no place in lebanon without spirit. except of course downtown.

Yes, i'm talking about this one

FYI, it is not (yet) demolished and looks like there is no sign of that happening - it is buzzing this summer with live entertainment and tourists.

Some large parts of aley still remain, very much, a 'village'... Like seb3il, rwayset el ne3men, and chartune... Mainly christian areas..

Courtesy of Alsarab

http://travel.maktoob.com/photo/data/11309/Image00040226.jpg

http://travel.maktoob.com/photo/data/11309/Image00044222.jpg

http://travel.maktoob.com/photo/data/11309/Image00045205.jpg

http://travel.maktoob.com/photo/data/11309/Image00043215.jpg

http://travel.maktoob.com/photo/data/11309/Image00042222.jpg

http://travel.maktoob.com/photo/data/11309/Image00047189.jpg

Some large parts of aley still remain, very much, a 'village'... Like seb3il, rwayset el ne3men, and chartune... Mainly christian areas..

these places are not part of aley.., they are in the aley caza but not the city of aley.
the main reason why these places remain very much a village is the mountain war of 83, there wasn't a single building left standing in chartoun after the war.. NOT ONE :ohno::bash: but let s not turn this thread into a political one.

I know.. about the war thing and levelled structures.. But now they're moving back slowly.. Building summer homes at least... And some parts, although still villagery, look beautiful!

Breezy Aley magnet for tourists visiting Lebanon
By Sara Abi Hachem
Special to The Daily Star
Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Listen to the Article - Powered by

Breezy Aley magnet for tourists visiting Lebanon

ALEY: Lebanon is a popular tourist destination for Arabs, Lebanese from the diaspora, and foreigners alike. Tourists enjoy spending hot summer days at beach resorts, and sampling the nightlife in Gemmayzeh, Monnot and Batroun. Some flock to Casino de Liban and others hit the country’s air-conditioned shopping malls, or take short trips to the Bekaa and Syria.

One of the pre-war queens of mountain resorts, the city of Aley takes advantage of its high altitude to draw people in search of some relief from the summer heat, and those who want a central location from which to make a series of these shorter excursions.

According to Issam Obeid, an adviser to the town’s municipal council, approximately 75 percent of tourists either lodge in Aley, come to spend a day with family or friends, or drive through it, namely on route to the Bekaa Valley and Syria.

In some ways, it symbolizes the summer tourist season, as a mainstay of the Mount Lebanon resort chain, which had its heyday prior to the Civil War.

“The number one reason tourists choose to stay in Aley is because of its location. Aley is a convenient place to stay,” Obeid said

At 850 meters above sea level and only 17 kilometers from Beirut, Aley is still the summer “hot-spot,” and offers enough to meet various needs

The town’s rural location means that natural settings and green spaces are in abundance, but it’s dense enough to offer a range of food and shopping options, easily accessible for tourists and locals alike.

The Aley souk is a magnet for visitors in search of cafes, restaurants, stores and nightly entertainment, and also boasts a view of Beirut that on clear days extends to a wide swath of the Mediterranean.

But Aley has struggled to eliminate the negatives: power outages, water shortages, along with traffic congestion, are some of the concerns that are being addressed by municipal council representatives.

For Mayor Wajdi Mrad, “the biggest problem we faced this year was with electricity.”

“The municipality allowed people to install generators without paying taxes, in order to provide residents with power,” he said.

Mrad added what most people already know: quick fixes cannot resolve the electricity dilemma on a long-term basis, stressing that it was the government’s responsibility to provide people with electricity 24 hours per day.

Tourists might see Aley as a refuge from the traffic in the capital, but the mountain also boasts its share of congestion, due to the sheer number of people who are based in the city over the summer

Mrad said a solution to the problem is in the works, but won’t appear in time for next year’s season.

“There is going to be a freeway around Aley, and a second street parallel to the main street of the Aley souk. We have already planned everything for it. In two years, we will have these two important roads, which will reduce traffic in Aley.”

The municipality has also purchased several properties to build more parking spaces in attempt to resolve the problem of congestion. But Mrad downplayed the idea that “Gulfis,” the town’s biggest clientele, are staying away due to infrastructure problems.

He added it was a misconception that the success of Aley’s summer season depends solely on the presence of visitors from the Gulf.

If Gulfis do not come in big numbers, the city of Aley will be hit hard economically during its summer season, or so it is believed.

“As a matter of fact, the Gulfis cannot not come to Aley. Most of them share a common incentive to come … and that’s ownership,” Obeid explained.

Over the past decade, Gulfis have purchased properties in Aley to satisfy their desire to invest in Lebanon’s booming real-estate sector, while reaping the pleasures of spending their vacations in a country where the culture as well as the language are familiar.

And they are a main reason why Aley’s population of around 35,000 people jumps by at least three times during the summer.

City officials recognize the inconveniences faced by tourists and visitors, but remain confident that the numbers won’t drop dramatically, and can only improve when electricity and traffic problems are finally addressed, and resolved once and for all.

ficamos felizes em ver que Aley está vivo como nunca apesar de 1975 quando esta cidade ficou seriamente avariada pela guerra;temos parentes nesta cidade,de onde veio meu avô e irmãos: David,Elias (Haddad),entre outros até meu bisavô.

ficamos felizes em ver que Aley está vivo como nunca apesar de 1975 quando esta cidade ficou seriamente avariada pela guerra;temos parentes nesta cidade,de onde veio meu avô e irmãos: David,Elias (Haddad),entre outros até meu bisavô.

Translating : we were happy to see that Aley is alive again , in 1975 this city was seriously damaged by war, we have many relatives there, my grandfather and brothers, David, Elias(Haddad) came from Aley, among others even my great-grandfather.

I hope you can visit your city again William

Nov 2010

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/3073/img96520.jpg

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/7576/img9653u.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/968/img9654.jpg

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/8076/img9673.jpg

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/9631/img9674q.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/2946288307_cf17d6188d_z.jpg?zz=1

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/2946288301_d1f9c746f5_z.jpg?zz=1

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/2946288291_2548e94778_z.jpg?zz=1