DeirElQamar Menu
| Virtual Tours |
| DEQ Surroundings |
| Events |
| Site Map |
| Contact Us |
| Home |
The
Church of Saint Elie.
This is the church of the Greek Catholic or Melkite Byzantian community. Built
in 1741 and restored in 1986, it adheres to the Sidon diocese.
Preceded
by a porch made up of three archways, we are led through into a small courtyard.
The
plan for this construction is again in simple basilical style and six imposing
pillars take the weight of the ridged arches. With a length of thirty and width
of ten meters, this church reaches about eight meters in height.
It
is believed that the main altar was offered in 1790 by the Emir Bechir II Chehab
to honor the four hundred Greek Catholic families who had fled Aleppo and taken
refuge in DeirElQmar because
the Sublime Port wished to prevent them setting themselves up independently
considering that they had sided with the Greek Orthodox community who treated
the Melkites as schismatics and therefore labeled them deserters of the faith.
The iconostasis as well as the frontal
facade and the main entrance to the church are again all in the beautiful pink
and white “bouzennar” stone.
Against one wall of the courtyard you will find the tomb of Nicolas the Turk, the “Emir’s poet”, as well as four plaques bearing his poems.
