Chhim, Chouf, Lebanon

elevation ~200 m · area ~2.52 km²

Where is Chhim?

Chhim is in the Chouf District of Mount Lebanon, roughly 30 km from Beirut in a straight line. Its closest Chouf neighbours are Dalhoun (~1.5 km), Mazboud (~1.5 km) and Aanout (~2.9 km).

Map showing where Chhim sits among the towns of the Chouf, Mount Lebanon

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About Chhim

Chhim is a town in the Chouf District of Mount Lebanon at about 200 m above sea level roughly 82 km from Beirut. Its land covers about 2.52 km², local agriculture includes wheat.

Name & origin

Freiha traced Chhim to Aramaic-Syriac meaning blackness/darkness of color, 'the dark one', perhaps for its dark soil. Habiqa and Armala read it as 'simple/plain'. The author believes the name means 'the common folk/the general public'.

History

Two destructive earthquakes brought down Chhim's old houses. At the northern edge of its land, in the locality known as El-Qasr, excavation by the Directorate General of Antiquities uncovered a Roman palace, marble columns, a Byzantine church, sarcophagi, tombs and pottery, and placed the building in the same period as Baalbek, in the second century AD.

In figures

~45 km from Beirut

Families

أمين، البابا، تراوي، الجوزو، الحاج، الحاج شحادة، شحادة، الحجّار، حجاوري، الحلبي، حمدان، الخطيب، دحروج، درويش، دغيلي، ديب، زرزور، شافي، شرف الدين، شعبان، شقور، صادق، صعب، ضاهر، عاشور، عبدالله، عرفه، عويدات، عيسى، فارس، فواز، قبلان، قذاح، قشوع، قميح، كيوان، مراد، المعلم، ملكي، نجم الدين، وهبة، يونس

Notable people

Notable landmarks

Common questions

Where is Chhim located?

The town of Chhim is in the Chouf district of Mount Lebanon, Lebanon, about 45 km from Beirut, at around 200 m elevation.

How far is Chhim from Beirut?

Chhim is about 45 km from Beirut.

What does the name Chhim mean?

Freiha traced Chhim to Aramaic-Syriac meaning blackness/darkness of color, 'the dark one', perhaps for its dark soil. Habiqa and Armala read it as 'simple/plain'. The author believes the name means 'the common folk/the general public'.

Which families are from Chhim?

Families associated with Chhim include: أمين, البابا, تراوي, الجوزو, الحاج, الحاج شحادة, شحادة, الحجّار, حجاوري, الحلبي, حمدان, الخطيب, دحروج, درويش, دغيلي, ديب, زرزور, شافي, شرف الدين, شعبان, شقور, صادق, صعب, ضاهر, عاشور, عبدالله, عرفه, عويدات, عيسى, فارس, فواز, قبلان, قذاح, قشوع, قميح, كيوان, مراد, المعلم, ملكي, نجم الدين, وهبة, يونس.

Who are some notable people from Chhim?

Notable people connected to Chhim include Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Ali al-Jozo, Dr. Mostafa al-Jozo, Abdul-Halim Hussein al-Hajjar, Dr. Helmi al-Hajjar.

What are the main landmarks in Chhim?

Landmarks in Chhim include El-Qasr Roman and Byzantine site, Muhammad al-Amin Mosque, Maqam Abu al-Wafa, Maqam Abu Zreideh and Maqam al-Nabi Roumin, Old waterwheels, Ayoun el-Thiab, Khallet Dariya, Shouaa, Hasniyeh, El-Kharbeh and El-Bustan springs, Chhim Governmental Hospital, Iqlim Primary Health Care Center.

In the Iqlim El-Kharroub area

Chhim is one of the seventeen municipalities that form the Union of Municipalities of Iqlim El-Kharroub El-Chamali — the northern half of the Iqlim El-Kharroub belt of Chouf District. The union takes Mazboud as its seat and runs from Jiyeh and Rmaileh on the Mediterranean up to roughly 795 metres at Daraya and Aanout on its eastern, mountainous edge. Within the union, Chhim is the site of the Roman Palace ruins listed among the area's heritage assets, and it hosts one of the union's government health-care facilities — a small clinic that complements the hospitals in Sibline and Mazboud; shrines in Chhim are also named among the area's religious sites, and a share of the union's industrial facilities are located here.

Source: UN-Habitat Lebanon (2023), A Road Map Towards a Socioeconomic Development Plan for the Union of Municipalities of Iqlim El-Kharroub El-Chamali, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

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