Hamatoura Monastery, officially the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos, is one of the oldest monasteries in northern Lebanon. Perched on a cliff between Kousba and Ras Kifa and reached by a steep mountain path, the monastery occupies a site that may preserve elements of an earlier Roman sanctuary. In 2008, workers restoring the church floor uncovered the relics of Saint Jacob of Hamatoura, a 13th-century monk martyred by the Mamluks after reviving monastic life at the monastery following an earlier massacre of its community. His relics are venerated each year on October 13. The monastery continues to celebrate its two principal feast days—the Dormition of the Theotokos on August 15 and the Presentation of the Virgin Mary on November 21—welcoming Orthodox pilgrims from across Lebanon and abroad.