Lot 3 · Ghabere Groves
Lot 3
Ghabere Groves
Five groves on the west- and north-facing slopes above the village, with native Baladi trees and, at the two Ghabere plots, the Souri variety. Birket el Raheb is among the oldest family holdings, gathered by Mansour AbouJamra in the early twentieth century.
Pressing method
Traditional press
The olives of this lot are pressed the traditional way. They are ground under heavy stone millstones, and the paste is spread on round fibre mats that are stacked one on top of another on the press. Slow, steady pressure squeezes out the oil together with the olives' own water, and the oil is then separated from the water. It is the older, slower method used in Lebanon's villages for generations, and it gives an oil with a rounder, more rustic character.
The pin marks the general area of Lot 3; it is indicative only.
Birket el Raheb بركة الراهب (in old deeds: Deir el Raheb, Jal el Birkeh)
“The monk's pool”. Mansour AbouJamra gathered this land from his co-heirs in the early twentieth century; deeds from 1903, 1910 and 1940 trace it, and in the family division of the 1940s its olive trees passed to his son Nicolas.
- Area
- 2,942 m²
- Olive trees
- 41
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 927 m
- Slope faces
- North-west
Ftayhat الفتيحات
The second-largest plot of the family's lands: a broad hillside of Baladi trees, medium to large, facing west.
- Area
- 10,154 m²
- Olive trees
- 76
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 861 m
- Slope faces
- West-north-west
Kebwetha كبواثة
A west-facing grove of Baladi trees recorded in a family deed of 1968.
- Area
- 2,860 m²
- Olive trees
- 58
- Variety
- Baladi (native Lebanese)
- Altitude
- ≈ 810 m
- Slope faces
- West-north-west
Ghabere el Ta7ta الغبيري التحتا (the lower Ghabere)
The lower of the two Ghabere groves, planted with large trees of the Souri variety.
- Area
- 1,883 m²
- Olive trees
- 28
- Variety
- Souri (named after Tyre)
- Altitude
- ≈ 927 m
- Slope faces
- North-north-west
Ghabere el Faw2a الغبيري الفوقا (the upper Ghabere)
The upper Ghabere grove, the highest land of this lot at close to 1,000 metres, with Souri trees facing north.
- Area
- 2,226 m²
- Olive trees
- 30
- Variety
- Souri (named after Tyre)
- Altitude
- ≈ 984 m
- Slope faces
- North
Areas and tree counts are from the family land register. Altitude and slope are approximate, taken from the plot centre on satellite elevation data. Map pins show each lot's general area only. Grove photographs from recent seasons; family photographs from the AbouJamra family archive.