Elementor landing recent post test – Page 1072

Picture of the day Nov 24th

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November 24, 2016

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@Tyre – #LiveLoveLebanon

Beirut skyline captures religious rivalry and harmony

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November 23, 2016

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By Tom Perry

In Beirut's rapidly evolving skyline, a newly built cathedral bell tower has risen next to the soaring minarets of a landmark mosque, symbolizing both religious coexistence and competition in a city split by sectarian war from 1975 to 1990. The new bell tower of the 19th century Saint George Cathedral is Beirut's tallest at 72 meters (236 feet) - the same height as the four minarets of the Mohammad al-Amin mosque that has dominated the city skyline since it was built over a decade ago.

Topped with an enormous cross that lights up at night, the bell tower was inaugurated at the weekend after a decade of construction. Both the church and mosque are prominent features of the Beirut city center that is still being rebuilt from the civil war, and are located near the frontline that divided Christian east Beirut from Muslim west Beirut during the conflict.

Archbishop Paul Matar said the idea of building a bell tower at Saint George Cathedral was a dream since its construction in 1894. It was originally supposed to be 75 meters high, the same size as the tower at Rome's Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore that inspired the cathedral's design. But instead, Matar said he shaved three meters off the design in what he described as a message of coexistence.

"When the mosque was built we were happy there would be a mosque and a church near each other. This is the slogan of Lebanon," he said in an interview at his offices in Beirut. "So therefore I wanted the tower's height to be at the same height as the mosque, so there is solidarity and harmony," he said. The cathedral belongs to Lebanon's Maronite Christian church, the biggest Christian community in the country.

After the guns fell silent, years were spent rebuilding the cathedral and dozens of other damaged or destroyed churches in Beirut, holding up the start of work on the tower, Matar said. In terms of their size, al-Amin mosque and tower have broken new ground for religious buildings in Beirut. Critics say both are out of scale with the city's other places of worship.

Picture of the day Nov 23rd

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November 23, 2016

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Jefford on Monday: Back in Beirut

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November 23, 2016

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By Andrew Jefford

I’ve visited the Lebanon three times in the last quarter century. The first occasion, in 1993, followed the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, when Beirut was still in ruins and the old Mercedes cars picked their way gingerly around the rubble. By 2003, in times of uneasy peace, the SUVs had moved in; Beirut’s enduring zest for both business and pleasure was again evident (the country consumed three million bottles of wine in that year, almost half of it imported). My latest visit, a couple of weeks ago, concluded with hornet-like Ferraris noisily out-darting each other in the small hours of a Saturday morning as they zipped past the serenely restored Phoenicia hotel and the gleaming new office blocks nearby.