Lassa, Lebanon

Lassa (Arabic: لاسا‎) is a municipality in the Byblos District of Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon. It is 90 kilometers north of Beirut. Lassa has an average elevation of 1,130 meters above sea level and a total land area of 739 hectares. The village contains one public school, which enrolled 15 students in 2008.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Shia Muslims.[2]

Lassa لاسا
Lassa Location in Lebanon
Coordinates: 34°4′34″N 35°51′36″E
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	Mount Lebanon
District	Byblos
Area
• Total	739 ha (1,826 acres)
Elevation	1,130 m (3,710 ft)

Lassa was the seat of the Shia Muslim house of Hamadeh, which exercised control over large swaths of Mount Lebanon in the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, including the districts of Jubbay al-Mnaytra, Bilad Jubayl (Byblos), Bilad al-Batrun and Jubbat Bsharray. Lassa was burnt by the Ottomans many times in reprisal for the Hamadeh lords' failure to remit tax incomes. In the late XVIIIth century, the Hamadeh and their clans (al-'asha'ir al-hamadiyah) were driven out of Lassa and surrounding villages, to the eastern slopes of Mount Lebanon, the Hirmil region and the area of Ba'lbak. Some of the Shia Muslim families remained. The biggest family in Lassa is Al Mokdad. Al Eitawi family comes after it.

References

1. "Lassa". Localiban. Localiban. 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
2. Cammett, Melani; Issar, Sukriti (July 2010). "Bricks and Mortar Clientalism: Sectarianism and the Logics of Welfare Allocation in Lebanon". World Politics. 62 (3): 381–421. doi:10.1353/wp.0.0056 (inactive 2021-01-17). PMC 4029429. PMID 24860198.CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2021 (link)