{{Infobox settlement | name = Beit ed-Dine | native_name = بيت الدين | native_name_lang = ara<!-- ISO 639-2 code: "fr" for French, "ara" for Arabic --> | settlement_type = Village | image_skyline = Beiteddine_entrance_door_2009.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = Beiteddine Palace | pushpin_map = Lebanon | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = Map showing the location of Beit ed-Dine within Lebanon | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Lebanon | coordinates = {{coord|33|41|44|N|35|34|45|E|region:LB_type:village|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flagcountry|Lebanon}} | subdivision_type1 = Governorate | subdivision_name1 = Mount Lebanon | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Chouf | established_title = <!-- Founded --> | established_date = | founder = | leader_party = | leader_title = | leader_name = | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 2.44 | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 860 | elevation_min_m = | elevation_max_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_note = | timezone1 = EET | utc_offset1 = +2 | timezone1_DST = EEST | utc_offset1_DST = +3 | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = | area_code_type = Dialing code | area_code = +961 | website = | footnotes = }} right|thumb|One of many Courtyards in Beiteddine Palace. '''Beit ed-Dine''' ({{langx|ar|بيت الدين|Bayt ad-Dīn}}), also known as '''Btaddine''' ({{langx|ar|بتدين|Btaddīn}}) is a small town and the administrative capital of the Chouf District in the Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon. The town is located 45&nbsp;kilometers southeast of Beirut,<ref name="Localiban">{{cite web|title=Beit Ed Dine|url=http://www.localiban.org/article4200.html|website=Localiban|accessdate=2016-04-01|date=2008-01-10|archive-date=2016-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322175650/http://www.localiban.org/article4200.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and near the town of Deir el-Qamar from which it is separated by a steep valley. It had 1,613 registered voters in 2010 and its inhabitants are predominantly Christians from the Maronite, Melkite and Greek Orthodox denominations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Elections municipales et ikhtiariah au Mont-Liban |url=http://www.localiban.org/IMG/pdf/Elections_municipales_libanaises_2010_-_Mont-Liban.pdf |website=Localiban |accessdate=2016-02-12 |page=19 |date=2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724081015/http://www.localiban.org/IMG/pdf/Elections_municipales_libanaises_2010_-_Mont-Liban.pdf |archivedate=2015-07-24 }}</ref> Beit ed-Dine's total land area consists of 244 hectares and its average elevation is 860 meters above sea level.<ref name="Localiban"/>

The town is well known for the Beiteddine Palace, which hosts the annual summer Beiteddine Festival.

==History== ===Ottoman era=== Emir Bashir II of the Shihab dynasty, who later became the ruler of the Mount Lebanon Emirate, started building the palace in 1788 at the site of the Druze hermitage (hence the palace's name, translating as "''House of Faith''"<ref name=":102">{{Cite book |last1=Najem |first1=Tom |title=Historical Dictionary of Lebanon |last2=Amore |first2=Roy C. |last3=Abu Khalil |first3=As'ad |date=2021 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-2043-9 |edition=2nd |series=Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East |location=Lanham Boulder New York London |pages=55}}</ref>), indicating that the town was initially populated by Druze before Bashir lived in it.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} Bashir moved the headquarters of the emirate from Deir al-Qamar to Beit ed-Dine by 1811.<ref name="Salibi108">{{cite book|last1=Salibi|first1=Kamal S.|title=A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered|publisher=University of California Press|year=1988|pages=108–109|isbn=978-0-520-07196-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4vOJ15vTZV4C&pg=PA108}}</ref> He ruled from the palace he built, known as the Beit ed-dine Palace, which he supplied with water by building a lengthy canal connecting the palace to the Safa River.<ref name="Salibi108"/>

After 1840, when Emir Bashir II was sent into exile the palace was used by the Ottomans as a government building. During the French Mandate its role was preserved and it served as a local administrative office. In 1934, it was declared a national monument.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} During the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war, around 200 Christians from Deir al-Qamar fled to the Ottoman barracks at Beit ed-Dine to seek shelter before their town was attacked by Druze fighters.<ref>Fawaz 1994, p. 72.</ref> After Deir al-Qamar was plundered by the Druze and its inhabitants massacred, they proceeded to attack the Christians who sought shelter at Beit ed-Dine. The outnumbered Ottoman garrison did not resist and the barracks were assaulted.<ref>Fawaz 1994, p. 74.</ref> During the French-led international intervention in the war, the French colonel, d'Arricau, chose Bashir's palace in Beiteddine as his headquarters.<ref>Fawaz 1994, p. 124.</ref> In the 1860s, the headquarters of the Ottoman deputy governor in Mount Lebanon was relocated to the Beiteddine Palace.<ref>Fawaz 1994, p. 178.</ref>

During official celebrations in Beit ed-Dine marking the enthronement of Sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1908, Druze and Maronites from the vicinity clashed in the town, resulting in the deaths of one person from each sect.<ref name="Matossian">{{cite book|last1=Der Matossian|first1=Bedross|title=Shattered Dreams of Revolution: From Liberty to Violence in the Late Ottoman Empire|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=2014|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=g3yaBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 92]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=g3yaBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA93 93]}}</ref> A week later, a delegation of the local, reformist Liberal Party issued a set of demands in Beit ed-Dine calling for reforms such as the abolition of new taxes and the dismissal of corrupt officials.<ref name="Matossian"/> The governor of Beirut Vilayet, Yusuf Pasha, rejected the demands and ordered the demonstrator's dispersal.<ref name="Matossian"/> However, the Ottoman garrison in Beit ed-Dine sympathized with the demonstrators and refused to disperse them.<ref name="Matossian"/> The governor ultimately acceded to the demonstrators' demands.<ref name="Matossian"/>

===Modern Era=== [[File:Chouf mountains.jpg|right|thumb|Beiteddine is the capital of the Chouf District]] In 1943, Bechara El Khoury, the first Lebanese president, declared it the official president's summer residence. During the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) it was heavily damaged. After 1984, when fighting in the area receded, Walid Jumblatt ordered its restoration. Parts of the palace are today open to the public while the rest is still the president's summer residence.

Bashir built three more palaces in the town for his sons, till today only Mir Amin Palace survived and is today a luxury hotel.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

Beiteddine is home to a Lebanese Red Cross First Aid Center.<ref>[http://www.dm.net.lb/redcross/our_centers.html Our Centers<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060212084701/http://www.dm.net.lb/redcross/our_centers.html |date=February 12, 2006 }}</ref>

==Demographics== In 2014, Christians made up 98.58% of registered voters in Beit ed-Dine. 84.33% of the voters were Maronite Catholics.<ref>{{cite web | title=التوزيع حسب المذاهب للناخبين/ناخبات في بلدة بيت الدين، قضاء الشوف محافظة جبل لبنان في لبنان | url=https://lub-anan.com/المحافظات/جبل-لبنان/الشوف/بيت-الدين/المذاهب/ }}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Lebanon}} *Architecture of Lebanon

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book|title=An Occasion for War: Civil Conflict in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860|author=Fawaz, L.T.|date=1994|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520087828|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_nE7RjS91_E4C|accessdate=2015-04-16}} {{refend}}

==External links== * [http://www.discoverlebanon.com/en/panoramic_views/mount_lebanon/el_shoof/beit_el_dine.php Text of Beit El Dine and virtual tour image] * [http://www.middleeast.com/beiteddine.htm MiddleEast.com] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060202010941/http://www.elkhazen.org/lebanon/touristic_sites/lebanon_touristic_sites_beiteddine.asp LebGuide] * [http://tyros.leb.net/beiteddine/ Lebanon, the Cedars' Land: Beiteddine]

{{Chouf District}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Populated places in Chouf District Category:Eastern Orthodox Christian communities in Lebanon Category:Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon Category:Melkite Christian communities in Lebanon