Lebanon’s only church-bell maker on keeping a 300-year family tradition alive
Naffah Naffah makes the bells in the mountains near Beirut. His sons will take over the foundry when he retiresThe story of Lebanon’s last remaining church-bell maker begins with a rifle. In the 18th century, Youssef Gabriel, a local metalworker, was secretly making and equipping Arab revolutionaries with rifles to assist their revolt against the Ottoman empire, which controlled Lebanon at the time.Then, one day, a Russian engineer came to the Lebanese town of Beit Chabab to make a church bell. Gabriel, intrigued, shadowed the man and picked up the process on sight. Continue reading...
William Christou in Beit ChababLebanonChristianity