The Mameluk sultans Baibars and Qalaoun led campaigns in 1268 and 1283, respectively, against the fortress-caves, monasteries, and the surrounding villages. Despite these attacks, the Deir Qannubin monastery was to become the seat of the Maronite Patriarch in the 15th century and to remain so for 500 years. In the 17th century, the Maronite monks’ reputation for piety was such that many European poets, historians, geographers, politicians, and clergy visited and even settled in the Valley. The first printing press in the middle east was founded in 1585 at the Monastery of Qozhaya in the Kadisha valley, and in 1610 printed its first book, the Book of Psalms in the Syriac language. It used Syriac characters. Also this printing press was the first to print in Arabic language