- Title: Beirut skyline captures religious rivalry and harmony
- Date: 24th November 2016
- Summary: VARIOUS OF MASS INSIDE THE SAINT GEORGE CATHEDRAL
- Embargoed: 9th December 2016 11:11
- Keywords: Lebanon architecture mosque church religion
- Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- City: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA00259SWU39
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The new bell tower of the 19th century Saint George Cathedral is Beirut's tallest at 72 metres (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 centre 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 metres 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 metres 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, to have the cross and the crescent together. Lebanon is always pictured as a church and mosque next to each other, as a symbol of coexistence. 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 in an interview at his offices in Beirut.
"It is not about showing off or any of that, we live together and we are going to be neighbours forever. When I die, I am going to be buried in that church and late Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri is buried in the mosque, next to the church. In life and in death, we are one people and we coexist," Matar added.
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.
Some Christians saw the Amin mosque as an affront to their community. Its size, compared to nearby Christian places of worship, was jarring for some Maronites, who emerged as the political losers of the civil war.
But the bell tower's intended message of interfaith solidarity and unity has not reached everyone. George Arbid, director of the Beirut-based Arab Centre for Architecture, said that it pointed to lingering sectarian rivalry in the city.
"The church is built in neoclassical style and the tower is big compared to the building. It is clear that it is a type of competition - be it positive or negative - with the minarets of the Amin mosque that is next to it. It is a continuation of a type of competition that emerged before this time, a competition between the sects for their presence in the city,'' he said.
The mosque's imperial Ottoman style, not found anywhere else in Lebanon, was in line with the wishes of its financier, the late statesman Rafik al-Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005.
It was built on the site of a small prayer corner with the same name.
Hariri, who is buried next to the mosque, had personally overseen elements of the construction, including picking the shade of blue for the dome. A decade ago, the mosque situated on a corner of Beirut's Martyrs' Square featured regularly in the news during a wave of protests triggered by Hariri's killing. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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