sentences:  Blaouza lies in the Qannoubine Valley region of the Qadisha Valley, an area settled 1,000-1,300 years ago by Maronite refugees fleeing persecution in the remote mountains of Lebanon and Syria.In their isolation, the communities of the Qadisha Valley preserved their religion, customs and language until the modern era.Unlike most Maronites in Lebanon, residents of Blaouza (and the Qadisha Valley in general) claim to be of Aramean, rather than Phoenician descent.