CHURCH BUILDING
Saint Elias Melkite Greek Catholic Cathedral
Beirut · Melkite Greek Catholic
- Locality
- Beirut
- Tradition
- Melkite Greek Catholic
- Type of place
- CHURCH BUILDING
- Coordinates
- 33.89673° N, 35.50549° E
A brief history
Saint Elias is a nineteenth-century Melkite Greek Catholic cathedral beside Beirut’s Nijmeh Square. Its architecture brings together Byzantine forms and other decorative traditions, with a marble iconostasis inside. Heavily damaged during the civil war, the cathedral underwent restoration from 2003 to 2006 under architect Elie-Pierre Sabbag. That work recovered an important part of the religious landscape of the rebuilt city centre.
An interesting detail
Artist Nathalie Yared’s project account explains that the wall paintings were recreated by carefully transcribing the original designs, rather than by restoring the existing paint.