The Saint Georges’ Orthodox Cathedral As long ago as the early byzantine era, there was in the center of Beirut an important cathedral, the cathedral of the Resurrection, Anastasias , situated near the celebrated law school of Justinian Students and professors would visit the cathedral directly after coming from classes. The cathedral was totally destroyed in the devastating earthquake which struck Beirut (named Julia Felix). In 551 AD. The excavations carried out under witness and museum covered by a glass floor lit from within, so that they can be seen by visitors, using a special entrance from outside the church. As it stands at the present, the Saint George cathedral dates back to the seventeen century, as can be seen from Ottoman (Turkish) documents. At that time the cathedral was a very modest church, the only one in the city, where all other Christian’s communities could come and pray. And now it is built over three churches which are under the ground. The transformation into a cathedral approaching western norms went through a number of phases, the first of which was in the year 1715 during the time of metropolitan Neophytes. In 1759, an earthquake destroyed a major part of the cathedral. Yet the roof collapsed which mass was being celebrated, 87 people from the congregation died beneath the rubble. In 1904 the cathedral was expanded and the interior decoration was renovated with superb frescoes covering ceilings and walls with canonical representation. The iconostasis of Saint Georges’ is 22 meters in length and around 8 meters in height it would carved from walnut trees. It is ornate with gilded in lays of leaves of elekantos and laurel. The holy icons at this level are ritual icons of the Virgin Mary Hodigitria, a Christ pantocrator, Saint john the Baptist, Saint George and Saint Elias, painted on a fairly large scale. Also, underneath the Cathedral there is a miracle, seven churches build above each others from many centuries. Churches from seven different cultures were discovered in the year 2010. Now these Churches can be visited and it’s is a museum under the Cathedral. At Last I think the cathedral should be nominated in the new world heritage list, since it has severed from a lot of wars, it was renovated many times, and it is connected of our researching criteria. It is full of ancient designs in its interior form and its one of the most creative architectural work that should be preserved and protected since it resemble an important era in Lebanon . By: Fatima Ghazal P.S: We will give you more info and pictures as soon as possible
