Moukhtara is a town in the Chouf area, Mount Lebanon. Chouf App is a utility app for Chouf-area residents — it connects Moukhtara with Chouf-based stores for shopping and with a directory of trusted local trades.
elevation ~800 m
Moukhtara is a village in the Chouf district of Mount Lebanon with a mixed Druze and Christian population. It is the seat of the Jumblatt family and the hometown of Walid Jumblatt, leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party.
Moukhtara is the historic seat of the Jumblatt family's palace, depicted in 19th-century illustrations. An archaeological excavation in 1963 uncovered Neolithic flint tools — daggers, arrowheads, sickles, and axes — establishing the site's prehistoric significance. Regarded as the de facto capital of the Chouf, it has been the Jumblatts' base since the family settled in the region in the 15th century.
A 19th-century stone palace of three large buildings that dominates the town and is one of the Chouf's main touristic landmarks. A water stream passes through its stone structure and feeds a massive pool set above the palace — hidden from street level, it can only be seen from above in satellite imagery such as Google Maps. The palace has its own hammam, a garden holding a collection of Roman sarcophagi, and a waterfall that feeds an ornamental pool. Some of its public reception rooms are at times open to visitors. When the head of the family is in residence, he traditionally hears the petitions of his Druze followers at weekends.
~50 km from Beirut · ~50 min drive
The town of Moukhtara is in the Chouf district of Mount Lebanon, Lebanon, at around 800 m elevation.
Moukhtara is about 50 km from Beirut, roughly a 50-minute drive.
Notable people connected to Moukhtara include Kamal Jumblatt, Walid Jumblatt, Nazira Jumblatt.
Landmarks in Moukhtara include Moukhtara Palace (Jumblatt Palace), Neolithic archaeological site.