Kornet Chehwan – Sts. Peter and Paul

Mjaydel, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  كنيسة مار الياس القديمة

City:  Mjaydel Jezzine

District:  Jezzine

Governorate:  South

History: 

كنيسة مار الياس القديمة - المجيدل

بْنيت سنة ١٨٠٤، وجُدّدت سنة ١٨٩٩ وسنة ١٩٩٩. البناء كناية عن عقدِ مْصالبِ ينتهي بحنية. تضمّ الكنيسة ثلاث لوحات: مار الياس ومار جرجس والعائلة المقدّسة من عمل خليل عقل تعود لأوائل القرن العشرين.

The old church of St Elijah - El Mjeidel

The church was built in 1804, and renewed in 1899 and 1999. The structure consists of a crossed vault ending with an apse. The church has three paintings by Khalil Akl from the beginning of the XXth century: St Elijah, St George and the Holy Famil

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.

St Georges Maronite Church, Qraiyeh, Lebanon

Name in arabic:  كنيسة مار جرجس

City:  Qraiyet Saida

District:  Saida

Governorate:  South

History: 

كنيسة مار جرجس - القريّة صيدا

بُنيت الكنيسة الأولى مع قدوم المسيحيّين إلى البلدة في القرن الثامن عشر، وكانت كنيسة صغيرة قليلة الإرتفاع تعرف بالقبو. تعرّضت هذه الكنيسة للتخريب في أحداث سنة ١٨٦٠. سنة ١٩١٤ ومع ازدياد عدد الأهالي، تقرّر بناء كنيسةٍ أكبر في الموضع عينه. فبدأ المشروع في عهد المطران بولس بصبوص والخوري بطرس كسّاب، نفّذه المعمار الياس قسطنطين من عبرا. وهي كنيسة بسوقٍ واحد ينتهي بحنية وسقف قرميد. في ستّينيات القرن العشرين أضيفت إلى قبّتها برج للجرس عند الواجهة الغربيّة. اللوحة التصويريّة من عمل راجي الحاج تعود لسنة ١٩٣٩. تعرّضت الكنيسة للعبث سنة ١٩٨٥ مع تهجير المسيحيّين من شرق صيدا، وأخذَت حلّةً جديدةً بالترميم في أواخر تسعينات القرن العشرين.

The church of St George - Qrayeh Sidon

The first church was built with the settlement of christians in the region in the XVIIIth century. It was known as the Qabou (the cellar) hence it was a small structure. It was sabotaged in the war of 1860. In 1914 with the growth of the congregation, the village needed a new church. The construction began during the pontificate of Bishop Boulos Basbous and Fr. Boutros Kassab, construction was executed by Elias Constantin from Abra. The church is of a single nave ending with an apse, and a brick roof. During the late sixties a bell tower was added to the original old one on the western side. The painting is the work of Raji el Hajj 1939. The church was sabotaged during the civil war in 1985, and restored in the last decade of the XXth century.