The See o the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate wis oreeginally in Antioch, but due tae persecution, it muivit first tae Saunt Maron's Monastery on the Orontes River an then tae varied locations in Munt Lebanon, such as Kfarhay, Yanouh, Mayfouq, Lehfed, Habeel, Kfifan, Al Kafr, an Hardeen in the Byblos region. It then muivit tae Qannoubine in the Kadisha Valley acause o intensifeed persecution an remained frae 1440 tae 1823 when it muivit tae Dimane an lastly, in 1830, tae Bkerké. Today, Maronite Patriairchs uise Dimane as a simmer residence an Bkerké as a winter ane.
The earlier biggin on Bkerké steid wis a monastery settled in 1703. In 1830 it became the winter residence o the Lebanon's Maronite Patriairch. The present red roofed structur wis built in 1893 by Patriarch John Peter El Hajj.