The Maqam of the citadel, destroyed by Israeli strikes. (Credit: Haidar Hawila)
The Shamaa citadel is located on a high plateau in the village of Shamaa, a southwestern border village. Lebanese people are still forbidden to visit it today, but photographer Haidar Hawila, a native of the village, managed to capture, in photos sent to L’Orient Today, one of the worst wars that Lebanon had witnessed. The citadel overlooks the coastal plain and served from 1978 to 2000 as an Israeli military post during its occupation of southern Lebanon.During the 2006 war, Israel aimed its cannons and missiles at the fortress’ northern and eastern walls and at the Shiite shrine, built nearby. The premises were seriously damaged. Read more Lebanese heritage at risk: The sites threatened by Israeli strikes In 2007, Qatar financed the complete renovation of the shrine attributed by local tradition to the tomb of the prophet...
The Shamaa citadel is located on a high plateau in the village of Shamaa, a southwestern border village. Lebanese people are still forbidden to visit it today, but photographer Haidar Hawila, a native of the village, managed to capture, in photos sent to L’Orient Today, one of the worst wars that Lebanon had witnessed. The citadel overlooks the coastal plain and served from 1978 to 2000 as an Israeli military post during its occupation of southern Lebanon.During the 2006 war, Israel aimed its cannons and missiles at the fortress’ northern and eastern walls and at the Shiite shrine, built nearby. The premises were seriously damaged. Read more Lebanese heritage at risk: The sites threatened by Israeli strikes In 2007, Qatar financed the complete renovation of the shrine attributed by local tradition to the tomb of the...