A church dedicated to Saint George (Mar Gerios in Arabic) was built in Brummana in 1962 on the site as an older one dedicated to the same saint. It is one of the most representative building of the modern architecture movement of the 1960s in Lebanon.

A prototype located in Montréal, Canada, would have been the inspiration of its architect, Samir Khairallah. A new material, concrete, permitted the following structural and technical innovations:

• a star-shaped layout and a "folded" roof ;
• impressive geometrical outer pillars attached to the roof by means of anti-seismic devices;
• non-supporting walls, placed in metal frames with glass openings on their upper part;
• a tall bell-tower composed of vertical concrete bars.

This church resembles a huge tent set on the summit of the hill of Brummana. However, its dimensions are visually reduced thanks to the height and slimness of the bell-tower. The structure contrasts sharply with its environment and even today can still impress the visitor. In 2009, the roof was covered by red tiles.

The walls are covered with cut stone with Greek-style crosses carved by Deacon Élias al-Batrouni, and by the master builder Neemtallah Abou Fadel. The star-shaped form of the church set in a circle reflects the symbol of the " Cross of Light ". Placing the pillars outside the central area of the church produced a large and free internal space, good acoustics, and the possibility of viewing the church at one glance. The eye is immediately guided towards the centre of the roof thanks to a fresco of the Pantocrator.

The iconography of the roof naturally follows the Byzantine tradition. Painted on a light yellow-colour background, frescoes of angels, the Prophets and the Apostles occupy the first circle around Christ. Further down, one can see different scenes of His life. This composition was started in the 1980s by Father Sofian Boghiu, with the help of the brothers Michael and Gabriel Moroshan, all three being Rumanians.

The initially-planned iconostasis drawn by Samir Khairallah and made of metal was not built. Instead, the old 1883 marble iconostasis of the preceding church was re-used. To make it fit in the new church, it was enlarged by the addition of two lateral marble panels made by Amin al-Achkar and the marble masters Riyad Khouri and Émile Béchara. The icons, drawn by Nicolas Majdalani for the metal iconostasis have been placed on the sides of the western door of the church and of the khoros.

The large cross and the icons of the Apostles on the architrave of the iconostasis are those of the old church. They were painted by Mikhaïl Mhanna al-Qodsi in 1885, who also painted the four large icons of this iconostasis but which now stand inside the bema. The icons presently placed on the iconostasis are recent, having been painted in the 1990s by the Sisters Ioanna and Dominica from the Kaftoun monastery in the Caza of Batroun.

On the southern door of the church one can see two other interesting icons. The first was drawn by Neemeh Nasser Homsi in the 19th century. It represents the Three Hierarchs. The second represents Saint George and is protected by glass. A Greek inscription indicates the date 1933, probably the year of its production and its origin, Port Said in Egypt.

Before 1870, the only Orthodox shrine in Brummana was Mar Chaaya (Saint Isaiah). The first church dedicated to Saint George was built after that date, when the historical church of Mar Chaaya became too small for the village faithful.

Although relatively tall, the old Saint George's church was an austere stone-built rectangular block resembling the surroundings traditional houses, with thick walls supporting a barrel vault covered by a flat roof. Its orientation was not exactly East-West, as should have been usual for churches.

The internal width of this church must have been about 5m, considering the dimensions of the marble iconostasis which occupied all its width The walls were covered by a lime coating with geometrical coloured designs on the upper parts of the walls and on the vault, similar to the ones that can still be observed in the historical Mar Chaaya church.

Standing on south-east side of the roof was a bell tower which was transferred to Mar Chaaya when the old Saint George's was demolished. Access to the roof was made thanks to external stone stairs fitted half way up the wall. For security reasons, a wooden mobile ladder was necessary to reach this part of the stairs.

This monument had two doors on the western and northern sides. The latter used lead to one of the village's two historical narrow alleys and which still exists today. The wide street on the southern side of the present church was then a secondary path and the area was uninhabited.

Behind the present church, one can see on the ground the stone stiles of these doors and a lintel engraved with a clover-shaped cross. The second lintel was re-used in the entrance of the modern bell-tower.

The old Saint George's church was also called " al-Moscobiyeh ", no doubt because of the financial help given by Tsarist Russia for its construction.

Brummana's old Orthodox cemetery was previously on the Western side of the church. In the 1960s, the ground was ceded to the Maronite community, which later built a reception hall. Only one tombstone has survived from the old Orthodox graveyard, showing a hardly-readable carved epitaph; the year 1865 is just visible. This tombstone can be seen among the flowers and plants on the West side of the church. Another Orthodox graveyard was once located on the other side of the road lower down. Both were transferred to Boulatia street in the 1970s.

May Davie
University of Balamand
2005

Any information regarding this building will be welcome. Please contact us at: mdavie@univ-tours.fr
george.fberbary@balamand.edu.lb