Lebanon’s Last Church Bell Makers Guard a Three-Century Legacy

In Beit Chabab, a town in Mount Lebanon, Naffaa Naffaa and his son are keeping alive a craft rooted in three centuries of history: casting church bells.

The Naffaa family are described as the last guardians of this trade in the Arab East. Their work preserves specialist knowledge handed down through generations, with father and son now carrying that responsibility together.

At the heart of the craft is the transformation of molten metal into bells. The family continues to hold the knowledge of that casting process, maintaining a tradition that has endured for centuries.

Their work makes Beit Chabab a surviving home of a rare artisanal heritage. For the Naffaas, each bell represents not only a finished object, but the continuation of a family craft whose future rests with its remaining makers.