Property: Ouadi Qadisha (the Holy Valley) and the Forest of the Cedars of God (Horsh Arz el-Rab)
Id. N°: 850
State Party: Lebanon
Criteria: C(iii)(iv)
Following clarification of the buffer zone by the State Party, the Committee inscribed this site on the World Heritage List on the basis of criteria (iii) and (iv):
Criterion (iii): The Qadisha Valley has been the site of monastic communities continuously since the earliest years of Christianity. The trees in the Cedar Forest are survivors of a sacred forest and of one of the most highly prized building materials of the ancient world.
Criterion (iv): The monasteries of the Qadisha Valley are the most significant surviving examples of this fundamental demonstration of Christian faith.