"And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart."
Gibran's words seemed to be more meaningful than ever when our steps were slowly treading the steps that led us to the Hermitage of St. Sarkis in Becharre, in Northern Lebanon, where the author had asked to be buried from a very young age.
It was the poetry of the Prophet himself, which all around us took form before our own eyes as we marveled on the beauty of the vegetation, villages and hills of this region, a region where men and nature live in perfect harmony, a region that is the most colorful of all Lebanon.
The beautiful arches of the Museum, which are the first to welcome us, seem to spring directly from the rock surreal as it is came straight out of another time.
Whether or not you have read the Prophet, whether Gibran's name sounds familiar in you mind and even if you knew absolutely nothing about it, the arrival at Saint-Sarkis seems to turn the visitor into a pilgrim. The words are scarce which gives you more time for contemplation in this sanctuary, isolated on the mountain, which overhangs both the valley and the nearest small town, perched on the cliffs.
The small size of the museum, its architecture, its vaults and its silence, create an intimate and meditative atmosphere. The visitor is not only immersed in the secret of Gibran's art, but directly in the memory of this man whose aesthetic sensitivity sometimes seems to be one with the graces of the region.
The small size of the building does not prevent the variety of rooms that are exposed. Indeed, each room corresponds to a different artistic period from the life of Gibran. The calm of the tomb where the artist rests and where his presence seems almost palpable, ends the visit, and is probably the high point of the museum.
By sitting on the black and sophisticated benches that welcome him when he leaves the museum, the visitor can still at leisure enter reverie and contemplation, his eyes riveted on the bucolic panorama show that even after his passing Gibran will continue his aesthetic and sensory experience.
It seems that getting lost in this place, is as much a pleasure for the one who does not know Gibran, because it is a good introduction to the work of the one who is sometimes called "the child of Becharre".
Add to Favorites
