Welcome to the first post on my blog. Maybe you have already red it on my ‘about’ section, but I will be writing about Lebanon in the coming period. I thought it would be nice to start telling you something about a symbol that has represented this country for centuries: the Lebanon cedar. It is so popular that the country is also know as the ‘Land of cedars’.
As you might have guessed the huge tree in the images above is the cedar of Lebanon I was talking about. This tree is considered to be the emblem of the nation and is represented on the national flag. Phoenicians used it to build their ships, Egyptians to make paper, Romans and Turks traded it. The cedar is also mentioned several times in the Bible. During World War One, British soldiers significantly cut down the tree population by exploiting it for railroads. In 2005 it has been used as a peace symbol during the Cedar Revolutions. A series of peaceful demonstrations that took place after the death of Rafik Hariri (former Lebanese prime minister), these aimed to the withdraw of the Syrian troops from Lebanon.
So, if you are in Lebanon, you love nature, and you would like to see these famous cedars, you should visit the ‘Cedars of God‘ forest. This is a grove situated in Bsharri (northern of the country) and was added to the UNESCO list of Heritage Sites in 1998. Now, if you hear someone talking about the ‘Land of cedars’ you know they are talking about Lebanon. I hope you learned something new and that you are ready to start a voyage in the Land of cedars 🙂
Didi's voyages 
