Zaghdraiya

Zaghdraiya
Village
Zaghdraiya Location in Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°31′32″N 35°24′8″E
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	South Governorate
District	Sidon District
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Area code	07

Zaghdraiya (also Zeghdrâya, Zoghedraya, Zghedraia. Arabic: زغدرايا) is a town in the South Governorate in Lebanon. It is located southeast of Sidon. The village is bordered with a number of villages/towns like Darb es Sim, Maghdouche, Miye ou Miye. It has a very small population and is mainly formed of very few houses and a lot of agricultural space.

The word Zaghdraiya means "castle" or "fortress" possibly due to the fact that the village is surrounded by hill tops in almost every direction.

History

In 1875, Victor Guérin found it to be a village of 150 Metualis, who planted figs and olives in the environment.

The town saw many struggles between its political party branches of various militias during the Lebanese Civil War

Demographics

As of 2014, the town had 786 registered voters, the vast majority of whom were Shiites. There are a small number of Palestinian refugees living in the town as well.

Sights

The town is mostly an agricultural landscape with a lot of olive, lemon, fig, orange, loquat (Akkidenia), and green almond trees. the town produces grapes, green beans, and jujubes. The Siniq river passes through the village and is usually the source of irrigation of these crops. The town overlooks hills of southern Lebanon due to it being predominantly uninhabited landscapes and rarely any tall buildings.

Bibliography

• Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 3: Galilee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.