Fakhreddine II Ma’an (1572-1635), “The Agronomist Prince”, developed silk related agriculture and established an industry based on the production of silk. This would ensure economic autonomy to the emirate of Mount-Lebanon, thanks to its commercial exchanges with Tuscany and Modena. The silk bundles were grouped in the “Kaysarieh” of Deir el Kamar as well as the “khans” of Sidon, Tripoli and Beirut, where local weavers would get their silk supply. This particular kind of silk was called “baladi” (literally, from the region), and was famed for its beautiful yellow colour. In the 19th century, Lebanon’s reputation for sericulture grew thanks to the know-how developed in partnership with the silk weavers of Lyon, on the other side of the Mediterranean.

In 1841, Prosper, Nicolas, Joseph and Antoine Fortuné Portalis built the first spinning mill (kerkhana) for the reeling of cocoons in Btater in caza of Aley. Teams of spinners were brought from France to train young women (a'milat), who for the first time, were leaving their households, to go out to work. This was a real social revolution in this rural and traditional part of the country. In Gaston Ducousso's book “The silk industry in Syria and Lebanon” published in 1912, the French Consul in Beirut counted no less than 183 spinning mills in Lebanon. It's important to mention that the transport of silk cocoons and silk from Beirut's port to Marseille, laid the foundations for maritime transport agencies in Lebanon. Similarly, loan grants to intermediaries and traders wishing to buy silk cocoons from farmers, laid the groundwork for financial trading posts which in turn led to the establishment of the first Lebanese bank, and to the development of the port of Beirut.

The presence of French silk spinners and of French Jesuits also led to the establishment of Beirut's Saint-Joseph University, originally a branch of Lyon University; as well as several private schools founded by Catholic congregations. Thus, thanks to the silk industry, the French language was popularised in Lebanon.

In those days, the silk season was a great agro-industrial event for thousands of Lebanese. It constituted 50% of the GDP of Mount Lebanon. In fact so many families farmed the silk worm at that period, that it became a tradition called “the season of glory.”