Daraya is a town in the Chouf area, Mount Lebanon. Chouf App is a utility app for Chouf-area residents — it connects Daraya with Chouf-based stores for shopping and with a directory of trusted local trades.
elevation ~800 m
Daraya, also known as Dheira, is a Lebanese village located in Chouf District in Mount Lebanon Governorate. The name is derived from "Dar" which means house or home. It is distinct from Darayya in the Damascus countryside, Syria.
Researchers agree the name Daraya is an old Aramaic plural of 'dar', meaning dwellings, houses and abodes. Tradition holds it derives from a queen named Layya who built a large house ('dar Layya') here. Some link it to Daraya in Kesrouan, whence its first settlers came.
registered population ~1,400 · ~44 km from Beirut
أبو شقرا، أسعد بيه، بارود، بصبوص، الجزار، حسن، دحبول، درويش، رحال، سرحال، ضاهر، عبّاس، عبد الرحمن، علي، عنتر، مرعي، نصر الدين، يوسف
The town of Daraya is in the Chouf district of Mount Lebanon, Lebanon, about 44 km from Beirut, at around 800 m elevation.
Daraya is about 44 km from Beirut.
Researchers agree the name Daraya is an old Aramaic plural of 'dar', meaning dwellings, houses and abodes. Tradition holds it derives from a queen named Layya who built a large house ('dar Layya') here. Some link it to Daraya in Kesrouan, whence its first settlers came.
Families associated with Daraya include: أبو شقرا, أسعد بيه, بارود, بصبوص, الجزار, حسن, دحبول, درويش, رحال, سرحال, ضاهر, عبّاس, عبد الرحمن, علي, عنتر, مرعي, نصر الدين, يوسف.
Notable people connected to Daraya include Dr. Mohammad Sarhal.
Daraya 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 stretches from Jiyeh and Rmaileh at the Mediterranean up to Daraya and Aanout at roughly 795 metres — the union's highest point — on its eastern, mountainous edge. Daraya is also among the union's towns hosting industrial facilities.
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.