Amioun
Amioun is the capital of the predominantly Greek Orthodox Koura District in North Lebanon. The town belongs to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Tripoli and Al-Koura.
Etymology
Amioun is a very old settlement whose history dates back to the Paleolithic period. This is supported by the number of small caves built in the old city's rocks. The ancient Semitic people are thought to have arrived in the region around 4,000 B.C.The town was called "Ammiya" in the 14th century B.C. A King of Ammiya appears numerous times in the letters of Tell el Amarna, particularly in ones concerning cities near Gebal. Local governors sent these 14th century B.C. letters to their overlords, the pharaohs of Egypt.
According to one theory, the modern town of Amioun possibly derives its name from the Aramaic language, meaning "'am Yawan" "Greek people" indicating a place inhabited by Greeks.
According to another hypothesis, Anis Freiha has argued that a possible root is the Semitic word emun, meaning strong, invincible and fortified.
Geography
Located in the heart of Northern Lebanon, Amioun is the administrative center of Koura District. Amioun is about above sea level and approximately 78 kilometers away north-northeast of Beirut. It is about away from the Cedars of God and away from Tripoli, capital of the North Governorate.Situated between the sea and the mountains, on a chain of beautiful hills that stretch from east to west, Amioun has a distinctive location and a scenic view. Surrounding the hills on which Amioun is situated are olive fields in the north and vineyards, almond orchards, and olive trees in the south. Paved roads, including the Beirut-Cedars main highway, run through those hills. Long ago, when the houses that stretched on those hills were few, Amioun was called “the town of beautiful hills”. Amioun can be reached via the highway that passes through Byblos, Batroun, Chekka, and Kfarhazir. It can also be reached from Tripoli by way of Bohssas, Dahr-al-Ain, Aaba, and Bishmizzine.
The modern town of Amioun lies on an important archaeological tell. Of major interest are the churches of Mar Jurius, built on the cellar of a Roman temple, and Mar Fauqa, or St. Phocas, built by local architects during the Crusader period. The entire interior of St. Phocas is covered with Byzantine-style wall paintings of the 12th and 13th centuries. A third church is the modern red-roofed Mar Youhanna perched on a rocky cliff with tomb openings on its southeastern facade.
Near the old town government building, or "Serail," is the Chapel of Marina, an ancient burial vault converted into a chapel.
Demographics
Amioun had a population of 2,673 in 1953.In 2009, Amioun had 7,011 registered voters.
In 2010, Amioun had a resident population of 10,658. Almost all the residents are followers of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch. Amioun is the largest Greek Orthodox town in Lebanon along with Rahbeh in Akkar, and 4th-largest in all of the Levant after Mhardeh, Al-Suqaylabiyah and Kafr Buhum.
In 2014, Christians made up 97.54% of the 6,790 registered voters in Amioun. 89.6% of the voters were Greek Orthodox.
In the 2022 Lebanese general election, 6,847 voters were registered in Amioun. 89.1% of the voters were Greek Orthodox.
Families
Based on the 2014 electoral catalogues :Chammas, Salem, Ghantous, Khouzami, Azar, Taleb, Saadeh, Nassif, Darazi, Rizk, Bourgi, Haidar, Makhlouta, Abi Chahine, Faysal, Hawi, Karam, Issa, Nassar, Daher, Nabbout, Khoury, Touma, Saoud, Ramadi, Obeid, Nehme, Deeb, Fares, Mansour, Yazbeck, Jabbour, Srour, Aboud, Barakat, Saghir, Roufael, Andraos, Moussa, Hajj Obeid, Badawi, Atiyeh, Saifan, Suleiman, Nasr, Daaboul, Zaidan, Mitri, Mnayyar, Ojaimi, Mekdad, Assaad, Saliba, Fayad, Semaan, Elias, Maani, Mikhail, Sarkis, Najjar, Shaheen, Sassine, Zoud, Younes, Abi Saleh, Tannous, Wehbe, Faraj, Jerges, Hajj, Saad, Ibrahim, Fadel, Abdo, Latouf, Habib, Melhem, Isaak, Ghattas, Yusuf, Farah, Saleh, Dargham, Kakos, Yacoub, Mahfouz, Tayssoun, Tamer, Sabbagh, Bannout, Haddad, Kaddour, Sawaya, Shehadeh, Saba, Smaili, Khayr.
History
Phoenician era
The archaeological survey conducted in 2017 in Amioun by the joint Italian-Lebanese mission has revealed a remarkably long and complex settlement sequence, confirming its identification with the ancient site of Ammiya. Initially a small Early Bronze Age rural settlement, Amioun grew significantly in the Middle Bronze Age, emerging as an urban center and eventually becoming a major political hub in the Late Bronze Age, dominating the inner Koura plain and rivaling other prominent cities of the region. This development aligns with LBA historical sources from the 16th to 13th centuries BCE. The site's importance persisted into the Iron Age, as evidenced by potential Assyrian pottery finds, indicating strategic relevance during the expansion of the Assyrian Empire. Despite regional upheavals, Amioun/Ammiya maintained its prominence, attracting imperial interest and continuing its key role into the Classical and Medieval periods, making it a crucial site for understanding the archaeology and socio-political history of Northern Lebanon.Amioun's past has left its mark on different historical periods, whether ancient, medieval, or modern. Some of its monuments can be traced back to a period when different pagan religions prevailed. With the advent of Christianity, the Roman pagan temples in Amioun were eventually transformed into churches.
Image:Le temple sur les hauteurs du village.jpg|thumb|right|The temple of Bziza in North Lebanon in the Amioun region
Image:Bziza and surrounding roman temple remains.png|thumb|left|Location map of Roman temples. Within the Koura District, the map includes the Saint George Orthodox Cathedral in Amioun, the Roman Temple of Bziza and the Qasr Naous in Ain Akrine, all three of them within distance from each other
The town -which grew in importance during the centuries of the Roman Phoenicia- used to be the site of a Roman temple, which was later converted into a church, dedicated to Saint George. The Roman temple of Bziza and the Qasr Naous in Ain Akrine, are also located nearby, distance from Amioun.
Byzantine Era
The Battle of Amioun occurred in 694 in Amioun, El-Koura, between Byzantine forces and Maronite and Mardaite Christians.The seat of the Chalcedonian Patriarch of Antioch had remained vacant since 609, following the killing of the last resident patriarch. Subsequent titular patriarchs resided in Constantinople, leaving the Christians of the Levant without a local spiritual leader. In response, the monastery of Maron elected John Maron, a Maronite monk and bishop of Batroun, as Patriarch of Antioch in 685.
The Byzantine emperor Justinian II opposed this election and, viewing it as a challenge to his authority, sent troops in 694 to raid St. Maron’s monastery in Apamea, Syria. The attack resulted in the death of 500 monks. John Maron escaped to the citadel of Smar Jbeil but eventually faced pursuit by Byzantine forces led by generals Maurikios and Markianos, who sought to capture him in Lebanon.
John Maron’s nephew, Prince Ibrahim, together with Prince Masud of the Mardaites, led a successful counterattack at Amioun, defeating the Byzantine army. Maurikios died on the battlefield, and Markianos succumbed to his wounds in Shoueti.
The citizens of Amioun buried Maurikios in their town and built a church over his grave, celebrating his feast day on 26 July.
Crusader era
During the 12th and 13th centuries, the era of the Crusades, Amioun was part of the rural hinterland of the County of Tripoli, one of the states established in the Levant following the First Crusade. Amioun lay within the domain of the lords of Bismiddīn, a feudal territory south of Tripoli. The region was agriculturally productive and supported a relatively dense rural population. Archaeological and architectural evidence suggests that Amioun functioned as an important local settlement rather than a small village, as indicated by the unusually large number of medieval churches concentrated within and around its historic core. Amioun preserves one of the richest ensembles of medieval rural churches in northern Lebanon. Several churches dating to the 12th century reflect the coexistence of local Eastern Christian communities, primarily Melkite/Greek Orthodox, alongside Latin influences.The Church of St Phocas is one of the most significant medieval monuments in Amioun. Built in the 12th century on the site of a 7th-century Melkite convent, it features an irregular basilican plan with three naves separated by triple-arched arcades and covered by pointed barrel vaults. The church originally extended further west, indicating later reduction or partial destruction. The interior preserves frescoes dating from the late 12th to early 13th century, featuring Greek inscriptions and a Byzantine iconographic program. These include saints such as St Phocas and St Simeon the Stylite, as well as scenes associated with funerary and baptismal rites. The church likely served the local Orthodox community.
Art historian Erica Cruikshank Dodd published her first study on the wall paintings in churches of indigenous Christian communities in the County of Tripoli. There, she discussed a painted effigy of a donor portrait appearing as a supplicant in the Melkite church of Mar Fauqa at Amioun, southeast of Tripoli. The ex voto scene depicts Philip the Apostle
accompanied by a beardless supplicant with the same name identified by a Greek inscription as “the servant of God, Philip.”
Because Amioun lay within the territory of the Latin lords of Besmedin, Cruikshank Dodd searched for a potential donor among prominent members of the Frankish aristocracy. She proposed Philip of Ibelin, regent of the Kingdom of Cyprus in the early thirteenth century, as a possible candidate. She also connected the murals stylistically to late twelfth-century Cypriot wall paintings. Greek Orthodox iconographers from Cyprus may have painted the Church, as further supported by the fact that it contains only Greek inscriptions. The supplicant’s attire strengthens the proposed Cypriot connection. He appears bareheaded, wearing a white tunic, a long-sleeve, red robe with an ochre lining, and black boots. This costume closely resembles that of later Cypriot donor figures, including John Moutoullas in the church of the Panagia at Moutoullas, as well as other beardless supplicants in Cypriot ecclesiastical painting. These visual parallels reinforce the plausibility of identifying the figure with Philip of Ibelin.
Philip of Ibelin, the youngest son of Balian of Ibelin and the Byzantine princess Maria Komnene, exemplifies the close interaction between Latin and Byzantine elites following the Frankish conquest of Cyprus in 1192. His family maintained strong ties to Eastern Christian traditions: his brother John, Old Lord of Beirut, employed Muslim, Syrian, and Greek—possibly Cypriot—craftsmen to decorate his palace in Beirut. Philip himself actively defended the Greek Orthodox Church against Latin pressure, a stance often linked to his partial Byzantine heritage. This background may explain why the supplicant combines Byzantine dress with the Frankish custom of appearing clean-shaven.
The Church of St George is a large 12th-century basilica constructed on the site of an earlier Melkite church, itself built over a pagan temple. With a capacity of approximately 250 worshippers, it is the largest medieval church in Amioun and may have functioned as the principal Latin church of the area's feudal lords, who were members of the broader Crusader Embriaco family. This is due to its architecture, which follows the Levantine Romanesque basilica type. The structure incorporates extensive antique spolia, including large reused stone blocks and columns taken possibly from nearby Roman temples. The apsidal wall and flanking columns exhibit Western architectural influence characteristic of Crusader-period construction.
Other churches and sanctuaries in Amioun dating to the Middle Ages include:
St Dūmit’s Church, a 12th-century conventual chapel west of the old village;
St Simeon the Stylite’s Church, with a medieval square plan located within the historic center;
St George al-Kāfir, a funerary chapel on the southern approach to the village;
A medieval grotto dedicated to St Marina the Monk, located in the eastern quarter of the old town.
The concentration and diversity of medieval churches in Amioun make it a key example of a rural Crusader-era settlement in northern Lebanon. The village illustrates the interaction between Latin feudal authority and local Eastern Christian communities, as well as the continuity of Byzantine religious traditions under Frankish rule. In particular, the two adjacent medieval churches of St Phocas and St George show that the settlement of Amioun had a considerable population during this period. Amioun’s surviving architecture provides valuable insight into settlement patterns, patronage, and religious life in the County of Tripoli during the 12th and 13th centuries.