Roumieh is a village north-east of Beirut in Lebanon. Surrounded by pine-forested hills, Roumieh is a 10- or 15-minute drive from the coast. Roumieh is known as a pleasant, picturesque small mountain town with many gardens. Agriculture In addition to pine forests there are vineyards, fig orchards, olive groves and thyme grow in abundance. The village is well known for the Arak liquor it produces. Climate Roumieh is characterized by a temperate climate, including dry summers, rainy winters, and transitional fall and spring seasons. It is located 550 to 700 meters above sea level. Demographics The village's community is mainly constituted of Maronite Catholics and Greek Catholics, plus also Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox. It is populated by approximately 5,000 permanents residents, excluding the prison's population. Topography The word "Roumieh" comes from Aramaic, meaning "hills" and refers to this characterising feature of the local terrain. This is understandable when one sees the "bumpy" pinetree-covered hills in the pastures of the village. Like all Lebanese mountain villages, Roumieh is marked with very beautiful terraces (Jleleh), designed to optimise the use of its land for agriculture and horticulture. Indeed, as cited above, some of the crops grown in Roumieh are exceptionally good given that the community ceased being agrarian nearly half a century ago. There used to be several natural streams (Ain) that surfaced in the village which were a good source of water for the residents. However, due to disorganised and sporadic construction in some of the marginal parts of town, most of these have disappeared. There is only one that remains properly functional, at the fountain in the centre of the village. The square surrounding the fountain has always been very pretty but has now been somewhat diminished by political graffiti and political propaganda posters. One can find some very pretty traditional Lebanese houses (pyramidal red brick roofs, white or sandstone walls with overlooking balconies and verandas shaped with arches in the old Levantine style) in Roumieh. Examples of this are some surrounding the Saydeh Church, and others in the Naas and Haret el Tahta and Fawka neighbourhoods. History and People Whilst the village itself is quite old (founded circa 1500), the 20th Century saw the village coming to a more prominent role in the area. With the ongoing diaspora towards the West including both North and Latin America, the village acquired wealth. Relatively to other similar villages, its inhabitants