MECMiddle East
Churches

Questions and answers

What is the oldest church in Lebanon?

The earliest church in Lebanon known from a written description is the cathedral of Tyre, the ancient port in the south of the country, on the eastern Mediterranean. Bishop Paulinus rebuilt it on the site of a church destroyed in the persecution, and Eusebius of Caesarea delivered a sermon at its dedication, usually dated to about 315. Remains found in Tyre in the 1990s may belong to it, but nothing of it stands. Among standing buildings no single oldest church can be named reliably: Qozhaya monastery keeps remains from the seventh century, a historian dated Mar Mema in Ehden to 749, and several village churches belong to the twelfth century.

The candidates, and what each date means

PlaceDateWhat the date refers toEvidence
Cathedral of Tyre (Paulinus)Dedicated about 315Building, described in a text; possible remains onlyEusebius’s dedication sermon; remains found in the 1990s may be the cathedral
Saint Anthony of QozhayaRemains from the 7th centuryMonastery in use; founding date disputedEarlier founding traditions conflict; the surviving remains are the dated part
Mar Mema, Ehden749, by a later historianChurch in use; attributed datePatriarch Estephan Douaihy’s attribution; a Syriac inscription and reused masonry
Balamand MonasteryFounded 1157Monastery in use; documented foundingCistercian foundation; Greek Orthodox since 1610
Saint Saba, Eddé; Saint Catherine, Anfeh; Saint Phocas, Amioun12th century, Crusader periodStanding buildings, dated by architectureArchitectural and painting studies; dates are approximate
Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Beirut1764Oldest standing church in BeirutBuilt over the site of an earlier Anastasis cathedral

The cathedral of Tyre

Book 10 of Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History preserves the sermon he gave at the dedication of the new church of Tyre, addressed to its bishop, Paulinus. Eusebius says the old church had been reduced to rubble by its enemies and that Paulinus chose to rebuild on the same ground rather than on an easier site. He describes an outer wall around the whole complex, then a court with colonnades on four sides, open to the sky, with fountains where those entering washed. It is one of the earliest detailed descriptions of a church building to survive.

Where the cathedral stood is less certain. Excavations resumed in Tyre in 1995, and evidence of an early church found beneath the rubble of a destroyed apartment block has been suggested as the site of Paulinus’s cathedral because of its unusual design. Tyre itself is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the Al-Bass archaeological area is the place in this guide that represents the ancient city.

The oldest churches still standing

In the Qadisha Valley, the Maronite monastery of Saint Anthony of Qozhaya is among the oldest in the valley. Accounts of its founding disagree, but remains from the seventh century survive, and in 1584 it received the first printing press in the Middle East. In Ehden, the seventeenth-century patriarch and historian Estephan Douaihy attributed the foundation of Mar Mema to 749; a Syriac building inscription and reused masonry survive, while the present fabric reflects later centuries.

The oldest firmly dated foundation in this list is Balamand, begun by Cistercian monks in 1157 and Greek Orthodox since 1610. Several small stone churches belong to the same Crusader period: Saint Saba in Eddé, probably of the twelfth century, with restored medieval paintings; Saint Catherine at Anfeh, dated to the twelfth century and first dedicated to the Holy Sepulchre; and Saint Phocas in Amioun, with medieval frescoes and Greek and Latin inscriptions. In Beirut, the Greek Orthodox cathedral of Saint George, begun in 1764 over an earlier cathedral site, is the oldest church still standing in the city.

Limits of this answer

“Oldest” depends on what is counted. A church described in a text, a site of worship, a founding tradition and a surviving building are different things, and Lebanon has examples of each. The Tyre date comes from a written sermon, not from the remains, whose identification is a suggestion. Douaihy wrote about nine centuries after the date he gave for Mar Mema, and the Qozhaya founding accounts conflict. Dates for the twelfth-century churches come from their architecture and paintings and are approximate. This guide documents 55 places in Lebanon; older churches may exist that it does not list.

Places mentioned

Sources

Main book references

Data and supplementary sources

Encyclopedia entries were read in full in their electronic editions; each is credited to its author. Page and column references appear only where the source prints them; the Gorgias dictionary is cited by entry title.