The Sarba sebil is one of the few well preserved Ottoman sebils in Lebanon.
A sebil refers to a public water fountain, usually built at crossroads in order to provide free drinking water in the Ottoman empire. Sarba’s sebil is located on the old coastal road of Jounieh – Beirut, which was the main route used since antiquity up until the 19th century.
The design of the sebil is quite simple: it has a wave shaped roof and an arched opening that leads to a basin through a staircase.On its main façade, a framed marble slab holds an inscription topped by the Tughra – a calligraphic signature of an Ottoman sultan – commemorating the construction of the sebil, dated in the year 1885, that states the following:
أفاض الله في صربا نميزاً
فقالت أيها السكان بشرى
لقد قرن واصا الشهمت عننى
وعاذب جذعاي خضر
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Like its counterparts – Beirut Sebil , Baabda Sebil and Baakline Sebil, it was built under Sultan Abed Al-Hamid II (r. 1876-1909), in the context of major infrastructure projects all over the empire.
Karim Sokhn
Tour Operator & Tour Guide
