Nahr Abou Ali in Tripoli is one of the most important cultural and historical rivers in Lebanon.
Nahr Abou Aali is actually the last part of the holy river Qadisha (with its source in the Kadisha Valley), when it crosses into the city of Tripoli. It was described in the middle ages as the ‘Oriental Venice’, due to old houses and structures built right at the peripheries of the river embracing the waters. After the river flooded onto the city in the 50s and killed some of its inhabitants, the officials decided to demolish the buildings making room for concrete fortifications, thus destroying the Venice-like charm of the old city of Tripoli along the way. The massacre went on it 2008, when the municipality announced it would roof Abou Ali River, in a project costing around 10 million dollars. Part of the roofing is now complete, but was limited to small areas. It is uncertain whether more roofing will occur.
Nahr Abou Ali is surrounded with historical Mamluk landmarks, Islamic mosques, and Ottoman buildings, such as the Citadel of Tripoli, the Al-Takiya Al-Mawlawiya, Maqam Sayedna Khodr, the Madrassat Al Houda, …,… .