History of Zahle

Zahlé was burned in 1777 and 1791, and it was burned again and plundered in 1860 during a conflict between the Christian population of the town and the Druze of the neighboring areas.

The construction of the railroad line between Beirut and Damascus in 1885 brought prosperity to Zahlé, which became a freight hub on the trade route between Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, while continuing to serve as a regional agricultural center. The town then grew slowly, but steadily, over the following century.

The Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1990 brought upheaval to the region. Overall, Zahlé was not affected by the war as much as other regions in the country, and many people from those regions chose to take refuge there because it was considered safe. The city's Geo-strategic position, however, sparked the initial setbacks of the Battle of Zahleh. A the beginning of the war in 1975, the Syrian army briefly deployed in the town. On December 21, 1980, Syria wanted to deploy its troops in Zahlé again and take over it, but those were intercepted by members of the Lebanese Forces and Zahle's citizens. After the killing of five Syrian soldiers, the Syrian army retaliated by continuously bombarding Zahlé. These attacks during Christmas produced a great reaction in the West, especially in France, who described the Syrians' actions as barbaric.

A similar incident occurred six month later: on April 1, 1981, a fire exchange between a Zahlawi position and a Syrian emplacement developed into a full scale Syrian onslaught. Syria proceeded to shell Zahlé for eight days, cutting all routes and preventing any type of aid from reaching the town