Jieh (or Jiyé, Jiyeh, ) is a seaside town in Lebanon with an estimated population of 5000, 23 km south of Beirut, in the Chouf District via a 20-minute drive along the Beirut to Sidon highway south of the capital. In Phoenician times, it was known as Porphyreon and was a thriving natural seaport, which still functions today. The town is also known for its seven-kilometre sandy beach, which is a rarity along Lebanon's rocky coastline.
History The Biblical prophet Jonah was said to have landed on its shores when he was spat out of the giant fish described in the Hebrew Bible, and a temple was built which stands until today. Many invaders passed through Porphyreon such as Tohomtmos the Egyptian who landed his soldiers on its natural seaport in order to fight the North. Alexander the Great relaxed on its shore preparing for the attack on Tyre. St. Peter and St. Paul also walked through Jieh several times.
In modern times Jieh took some of the harshest blows of the Lebanese Civil War that raged from 1975 to 1990. Being a coastal town made it vulnerable to the countless numbers of Palestine Liberation Organization raids on the area, as well as Israeli army invasions during the 1980s , the worst being on January 20, 1976. Jieh's strategic location on the coastal highway between Beirut and Sidon made it a recurring site of conflict and demographic shifts.
In January 1976, during the "Two-Year War" phase, the town was the site of a major massacre committed by Joint Forces units comprising the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Lebanese National Movement (LNM). Following the fall of the nearby town of Damour, armed groups entered Jieh, resulting in the summary execution of approximately 50 to 100 Christian civilians and the displacement of the remaining population.
In January 1984, during the Mountain War, the town and the surrounding Iqlim al-Kharrub region were the site of the "Iqlim al-Kharrub Coastal Massacre." Following the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from the coastal road, a series of clashes resulted in the capture of several villages by militias. During this period, approximately 30 to 40 civilians in Jieh and neighboring coastal settlements were killed in localized massacres, and several thousand residents were displaced toward the south.
Following the IDF withdrawal from the Sidon area in March 1985, a coalition of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), the Amal Movement, and Palestinian factions moved to secure the coastal corridor. This final phase of conflict in the area resulted in the summary execution of an estimated 15 to 20 Christian civilians and the total displacement of the town's remaining Christian population.
During the war, the Progressive Socialist Party controlled the seaport at Jieh. In March 1989, General Michel Aoun established a blockade of the port, which resulted in artillery exchanges between his forces and a combination of PSP, Lebanese Resistance Regiments, and the Syrian Army in Beirut and the Chouf. At least 90 people were killed and several hundred wounded.Middle East International No 346, 17 March 1989, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Jim Muir pp.6,7Middle East International No 347, 31 March 1989; Jim Muir pp.3,4 Jieh is being rebuilt, albeit at a slower pace than the nearby capital city of Beirut.
Archaeological site The town houses some of Lebanon's finest archaeological ruins, some of them buried under modern buildings, others waiting to be dug up by excavators, and others having already been removed and placed in museums. Mosaics depicting the story of the Prophet Jonah and the giant fish in the Book of Jonah have been found in churches dug from underground over time. Examples of these are the grand floor mosaics from the Byzantine Empire period, which were so big that trucks were needed to transport them to museums, as was the case with the fine collection owned by Walid Jumblatt, a local politician, which is on display at his Beiteddine Palace Museum.
Findings at the site indicate occupation from the Late Bronze Age through the early Islamic period. There is evidence for the production of wine and olive oil, as well as animal husbandry, in Late Antiquity. Stratigraphic, ceramic and numismatics data show that the settlement was abandoned in the 2nd half of the 7th century CE, without evidence for destruction or sudden termination.
During the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, UNESCO gave enhanced protection to 34 cultural sites including the Jiyeh – Porphyreon archaeological site to safeguard it from damage.
Research history In 1914, Georges Contenau located the basilica, the residential quarter, and the necropolis. The first excavations on the site were carried out in 1975 by Roger Saidah from the Directorate General of Antiquities. They uncovered most of the domestic architecture from the Byzantine period. The outbreak of civil war in Lebanon interrupted the work. The mosaics found during these excavations are currently on display in the museum in Beiteddine. Since 2004, research in Jiyeh has been conducted by the Polish-Lebanese archaeological expedition from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw headed by Prof. Tomasz Waliszewski.
The Polish-Lebanese Archaeological Mission from the PCMA UW conducts its research in cooperation with the DGA and the Faculty of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art of the Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw. In 2004, salvage excavations were conducted due to the construction of a hotel in the area of the necropolis. The team documented graves from the Roman and Byzantine periods, as well as large numbers of Hellenistic and Roman pottery vessels, both imported and locally produced. In the following years, work focused on the basilica and the residential quarter. Test pits in the basilica confirmed its use in the 5th century, although it could have been built earlier, i.e., in the 4th century. About 100 rooms dated to the Roman and Byzantine periods were excavated in the residential quarter. Test pits dug in some of the houses revealed ancient layers, as well as earlier ones – from the Bronze and Iron Ages. Three main phases of the functioning of the domestic architecture were distinguished:
Iron Age II (8th–7th century BC) Persian-Hellenistic-Roman period (5th century BC–2nd century AD) Late Antique period (4th–5th century AD)The analysis of finds, mainly coins and ceramics, suggests that the settlement was abandoned in the 7th century.
A pottery production center and remains of a wine production installation were discovered to the north of the residential quarter. The economy of the settlement could have been based on trade in locally-produced goods, such as olive oil, wine, pottery vessels. Fishing was also practiced, as attested by the equipment discovered on the site: fishing hooks and net sinkers.
Jieh has recently been the scene of accidental excavations of a Byzantine-era Christian church and surrounding tombs which had been buried underground for centuries. Nothing is being done to protect them at the moment due to political hearings on the matters of the people versus the government - landlords' rights to preserve historical artifacts found on said property with viable direct ancestry value and or documentation. The people versus the government landlords' rights to preserve historical artifacts found on the said property which directly pertain to all local populous religious beliefs, practices, and or scriptures or text, all of which fall under the world preservation of historical and archaeological acts of 1971.
Religion
Jieh is home to many religious groups, mostly Maronite Christians and Shia Muslims with some Melkites, Druze and Sunni Muslims. The Shiite Muslims of this area mainly occupy the high rise section of Nabi Younes (Prophet Jonah) located in the central western and southern parts of the town on the coast. While the northern and central eastern area is occupied by the Christian and Sunni populous in the section of St. George's and Our Lady of the Star's Cathedrals. The rebuilding of Jieh's two churches took effect a few years after the civil war ended during the construction boom. On the left below is Our Lady of the Star, Maronite Catholic Church whose construction finished in 2017, as well as the new St Georges Church featured to the right.
Many Christian families who fled the town of Jieh have sent money back to rebuild Our Lady of the Star, which is now completed and regularly hosts weddings and other religious events. The rebuilding of St George's has also begun. While the original mosque of the town built directly over the tomb of the Nabi Younes to safe-guard the tomb, built around a century ago by the El Hajj family (one of the predominant Shia families in the village) still lies in ruins due to a dispute between Shia and Sunni factions on the placement and erection of the new facility. This has caused strife between all the religious denominations in the region. More now than ever since Hezbollah stepped into the middle of the dispute and erected a Shia mosque without finding a common ground between both Muslim parties and the consent on placement of the facility with the Christian denominations in the area to confirm that the voluminous call to prayers would not be a hindrance upon their religious practices.
Jieh also hosts many resorts that take advantage of the 7km of sandy beaches as well as the towns close proximity to Beirut that allows for many people staying in Beirut to easily visit for the day.
On the 28 October 2010, St George's Catholic Cemetery was the subject of an attack by graveyard vandals. An exhumed body in the lone casket of one of the tombs was removed, dragged out of its resting place and disfigured.
Tourism
Jieh's main tourist attraction is its 7 km sand strip hosting a set of clean sandy beaches. Close to Beirut and still clean to swim in, Jieh is a go-to destination for beach lovers who like the sand, the sun, and some waves away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The mainly privately owned beach resorts that occupy the beach front range in themes that cater for all classes of society, including women's only beaches.
Education
Jieh is a town that houses St Charbel College. The convent of Saint Charbel and the attached High School are run by the Lebanese Maronite Order of Monks. It was the direct result of repeated demands by the local residents and two decades of planning and negotiations. Construction was completed in 1965. The mission of this project was to provide education to students of different faiths from Jieh and neighboring villages in the Chouf district south of Beirut. The convent and school were lightly damaged during the 1975 war and then evacuated in 1985 when the Christian population of the town was forced out. This time the structure sustained heavy damages and for the next six years became a living quarter for Palestinian refugees. Renovations started in 1991 after generous contributions from charitable organizations, local politicians and residents. As soon as the work was completed, 600 students enrolled of whom only 18 were Christians. Today both the convent and the school are fully restored and became a center of culture and education for students from the southern suburbs of Beirut to Sidon.
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