Establishing and Building the Church 1860-1929
Prior to 1860, the congregation used to pray at Saint George Cathedral situated downtown in Parliament Square, as there was no Orthodox Church in Ras Beirut at that time. . They would also pray at Saint Elias El Btina church in Msaytbeh, at the southern east side of Ras Beirut, and bury their dead in Saint John’s church cemetery which is located next to Saint Elie. Both churches were considered far away due to the difficulty of transportation, the poor conditions of the roads and the added the danger presented by highwaymen who were active along the narrow, little used alleys.
Land to build a church with a cemetery and a school for parish children was donated by the Rbeiz and Bekhazi families, the largest orthodox families in Ras Beirut. The Archbishop of Beirut at that time was Archbishop Ierotheos, the last Archbishop of Greek origins.
Document of the first Priest in Saint Mary’s Orthodox Church of Dormition, Year 1860
The building of the church was completed in 1860. It was called Sayyudat Al Niyah (Saint Mary’s Orthodox Church of Dormition). The Church was consecrated for worship on February 18, 1861.
Father Wakim Gehchan was the first priest of the new church. Mr. Jibrael and Mr. Antoine Rbeiz were nominated Trustees of the “Waqf” (estate) according to a document from the year 1884. After the completion of the church building, the parish members and the Trustees worked to ensure the building of schools that would educate the parish members and raise them according to the Orthodox Tradition. However, as there were few schools in the area, they did not object to accepting children from other sects. The goal of the Trustees was to create tolerance and understanding among all sects.
Document of the sanctification from Bishop Erothios- Year 1861
When the church was first built, the building area did not exceed one hundred and seventy square meters, i.e. thirteen meters length and thirteen meters wide. A photograph from 1892 reveals a two story portico with a brick tile roof and underlying vaults on the western side of the church. The above mentioned photograph also reveals an elongated one story building on the southwest of the church. According to a document written in the second decade of the 20th century, the building comprised the residence of the sexton (quandalaft) and a school for boys. It had seven rooms, two of which were reserved for the sexton and the other five for the school. (See chapter on “Schools of the Waqf”). The sexton’s apartment was later on allocated to the congregation’s priest. The land adjacent to the church from its northern side became its cemetery.
Since the end of the nineteen hundred, orthodox families from different places in Lebanon joined the congregation in Ras Beirut seeking education at the Syrian Protestant College (founded in 1866) later to become the American University of Beirut. Orthodox families continued to move to Ras Beirut all the way up to the Civil War (1975 – 1991).
After 1930 there was an amelioration of the congregation’s social and economical standards. Family businesses evolved from farming and pseudo-industry to industry and modern commerce. The presence of Orthodox students at the American University and the arrival of Palestinians families that settled in Ras Beirut, helped increase the number of participants at Church services and therefore the Church’s income.
