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A few weeks ago, I ran into an enthusiastic Lebanese guy, on the streets of Lebanon, while enjoying a drink with a friend. We started chatting about Lebanon, how much we love it, how many places are not that well known, etc. And then he told me about this tree, this huge tree somewhere in the Shouf Mountains. The way he spoke about it was touching and catching at the same time; he really loved that tree! So I gave him my e-mail address and asked him to send me some more information. A week later, this is what I received:

Dear Saskia,

As promised, i am sending you some information about the Oak tree of Ain Trez!

Ain Trez is a small village near Chouf. It is a beautiful area with forests and a river. Most of the villagers emigrated, and so it has a small population and few houses. Among them is the residence of Habib Pacha Es-Saad who was named president in 1934.

Oak trees are very important in the Lebanese culture and so the residence was built around this very old one (i think 1800 years old). The Tree is magnificent, but it also holds historical and mystical value!

I have found a 360 photography of the tree:

http://www.discoverlebanon.com/en/panoramic_views/
mount_lebanon/aley/view_ain_trez1.php

And this is a photo of the residence

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/25657049.jpg

I have also attached a map of the area. 

Cheers!
Peter

Thank you Peter !

Actually the residence still belongs to the family of the Pacha Es-Saad and renovation continues. I just attended a beautiful wedding there last month.
To have 300 people eating and dancing under just 1 tree is indeed somehow magical.
The sad part of the story I was told is that the villagers did not really emigrated, but were largely massacred by the Druze, who sold back the properties to the surviving owners at the end of the war.