JIYEH CHURCH, SOUTH OF BEIRUT- LEBANON: ARCHITECTURAL STUDY

A., Younes,; Kh., Gharib,; M., Gabr,

doi:10.21608/ejars.2024.396697

JIYEH CHURCH, SOUTH OF BEIRUT- LEBANON: ARCHITECTURAL STUDY

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ PhD Student Greco-Roman Archaeology dept., Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo Univ., Giza, Egypt & Executive director of Prince Invest group, Lebanon

² Greco-Roman dept., Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo Univ., Giza, Egypt

10.21608/ejars.2024.396697

Abstract

With the declaration of Christianity as the official religion of the Byzantine state in the year 381 AD, a campaign of destruction of the ancient temples spread throughout the Roman Empire. Their stones and columns were used to build cathedrals and Christian churches, distinguished by their designs. Some of those temples, distinguished by their architecture and tall buildings, were transformed into centers of worship appropriate to the new religion. These churches did not remain as they were because of their exposure in subsequent eras to destruction, especially the earthquakes(*) that struck the region and the successive wars(**) and the looting and vandalism that accompanied them. In the sixth century AD, religious divisions increased, a Syriac cultural renaissance appeared, and loyalty to the Byzantine state weakened until it faded away in the seventh century AD. The state exhausted its resources and lost many lands during the Islamic conquests, and the empire lost its most important provinces, including this region. Among the important examples are the churches of Lebanon; one of them being the “Jiyeh church”

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