El Gharbye Kobayat – The church of the Forty Martyrs

Saint Simon Church Ghosta - كنيسة مار سمعان, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  كنيسة مار سمعان العاموديّ

City:  Ghosta

District:  Keserwan

Governorate:  Mount Lebanon

History: 

كنيسة مار سمعان العاموديّ - عوسطا

هي كنيسة البلدة الرعائيّة. أُتِمّت بسعي رئيس الجمهوريّة آنذاك الشيخ بشارة الخوري في خمسينيّات القرن العشرين. نمط البناء بازيليكيّ بسيط، مع واجهة نيوغوطيّة. تتميّز الكنيسة بمذابحها الثلاث وجرن عمادها من الرخام الأبيض المنحوت، كذلك ثلاث لوحات تعود لمدرسة الأرت ديكو.

The church of St Simon the Stylite - Ghosta

The church is Ghosa’s parish church. It was built with the aid of then president Sheikh Bechara el Khoury in the fifties of the XXth century. Its style is basilical with a neo gothic facade. The church holds three ornate white marble altars and a baptistery, with three art deco paintings.

Saint Joseph, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  كنيسة مار يوسف

City:  Aachqout

District:  Keserwan

Governorate:  Mount Lebanon

History: 

كنيسة مار يوسف - عشقوت

كنيسة مار يوسف في محلّة جبل عشقوت، تم تشييدها سنة ١٩٢٦. الكنيسة وقف لآل موسى بنوها لبُعد مساكنهم عن البلدة. الكنيسة صغيرة عبارة عن عقدٍ مصالبٍ، إختبأ فيها الفراريّة خلال الحرب العالميّة الثانية.

The Church of St. Joseph - Ashqout

The Church of St. Joseph is located in the mountains surrounding Ashqout and was built in 1926 as a private chapel for the Moussa family. They built it because their homes were far away from the village center. The church is a small crossed vault and housed fleeing outlaws during World War II.

Deir Saydet el Natour, Hraiche, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  سيدة الناطور

City:  Enfeh

District:  Koura

Governorate:  North

History: 

The convent’s ancient origin is attached to a legend. A rich man of the region committed adultery; filled with remorse, he attached a padlocked iron chain to his ankle and threw the key into the sea-shore and survived on the fish brought to him by local fishermen, who called him the guardian of the cavern. One day, a fisherman brought him a fish, in whose entrails the hermit found the key of the padlock. He knew then that God had delivered him from his suffering, and he built a convent above the cavern. He dedicated it to The Mother of God, but it also took the name of the Guardian.

The daily life of the convent is regulated by the flow of visitors who come to fulfill vows and make prayers. Sister Catherine al-Jamal is the principal resident of Dayr al-Natour, and she has done everything within her power to restore it.

According to the Crusader document, the Monastery of the Presentation of Our Lady Natour was built by Cistercians. Indeed, the Church interior resembles that of the Cistercian Church of Balamand, built in 1157. Otherwise, the history of Dayr al-Natour is hidden in obscurity, although it is said that the local Orthodox community took it over after the departure of the Crusaders. Its name is almost unmentioned by historical sources during the Mamluk and most of the Ottoman period, although it is reported that French corsairs attacked the Monastery at the beginning of the eighteenth century and killed a monk.

In 1838, the Ottoman authorities gave permission to the Monastery to be rebuilt. In the second half of the nineteenth century, it contained several monks and a superior, and it possessed fifteen dunums of land. During the First World War, it was bombarded by a Russian ship. A few years later, the Monastery lost its last Superior, Basilios Debs, who became Archbishop of Akkar. After his departure, monastic life ended at Dayr al-Natour.

During the twentieth century, the deserted monastery became a refuge for shepherds from the neighboring regions. In 1973, Sister Catherine al-Jamal moved to Dayr al-Natour and began to restore it from its ruin.