Kisrawan
Videos
The Kisrawan or Keserwan is a region between Mount Lebanon and the Mediterranean coast, north of the Lebanese capital Beirut and south of the Ibrahim River. It is administered by the eponymous Keserwa
After the Ottoman conquest of the Levant in 1516, the Assaf lords of Kisrawan moved their headquarters to Ghazir (pictured in 1893), where they cultivated close ties with the Maronites of the district, particularly the Hubaysh family, at the expense of their Turkmen kinsmen.
The village of Faraya in the Kisrawan was settled by Shia Muslims from Baalbek in the early 16th century
The Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke, Kisrawan
Tanyus Shahin of the village of Rayfoun led the peasants of Kisrawan in revolt against their Khazen lords in 1859
Yusuf Sayfa
Videos
Yusuf Sayfa Pasha was a chieftain and multazim in the Tripoli region who frequently served as the Ottoman beylerbey of Tripoli Eyalet between 1579 and his death.
Yusuf and his family, the Sayfas, were established in the hills of Akkar (pictured in 2015)
The Citadel of Tripoli, center of the Tripoli Eyalet, which Yusuf governed from 1579 until his death in 1625, with several interruptions
Yusuf, as head of the Ottoman armies in Syria, made an unsuccessful last stand against the rebel Ali Janbulad at Krak des Chevaliers in 1606. Despite frequent dismissals from Tripoli and territorial losses to his adversaries, Yusuf consistently held onto the fortress. Shortly after he died, his sons surrendered it to Fakhr al-Din
The Soap Caravanserai (Khan al-Saboun) in Tripoli, which was originally built by Yusuf in the early 17th century as a barracks