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Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral ((アラビア語: كاتدرائية القديس جاورجيوس للروم الارثودكس )) is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan bishop of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Beirut and its dependencies. It is the city's oldest extant church. ==History== The establishment of the Archdiocese of Beirut is attributed according to the Greek Orthodox tradition to the Apostle Quartus of Berytus, one of the Seventy disciples, who served as Beirut's first bishop. Byzantine emperor Theodosius II issued a decree AD elevating the bishop of Beirut Efstathius to the rank of Metropolitan bishop. The city was until then a diocese of the Metropolis of Tyre.〔〔 The Anastasis cathedral was the first church to be built on the site of the Saint George cathedral.〔 It was built by Efstathuis in the fifth century AD and bordered the auditoria of Beirut's Roman law school. The church influenced the teachings of the school as law scholars worked to reconcile the texts of Roman law and the teachings of Christianity as attested by Severus of Antioch, who visited the city in the fifth century AD.〔 In 551 AD a massive earthquake destroyed the whole of Beirut including the Anastasis cathedral. In the 12th century a cathedral was built in the same location. The structure was badly damaged by a 1759 earthquake and was pulled down to be built anew. Construction started in 1764 and the new, larger structure, with one nave and a vaulted ceiling, was completed in 1767. However, the ceiling collapsed killing 90 people, due to the lack of supporting pillars.〔〔 In 1772 the church was rebuilt on a cruciform plan with three naves, a new portico was added to the north facade, the main western facade was enlarged and a new bell-tower was built on the north-western corner.〔〔 In 1783 the cathedral underwent a series of modifications, including the addition of the narthex to the western facade and the enlargement of the apse to fit the central axis of the cathedral's main altar. That same year Younes al-Jbeily offered the church its ornate gilded wooden iconostasis.〔〔 The last modifications to the cathedral were made in 1910, with the addition of a vaulted portico to the south facade, the cathedral was further enlarged to the east and the bell tower was moved to the south-east corner. The interior of the cathedral was decorated with ornate frescoes offered by Ibrahim Youssef Saad.〔 In 1975, following the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war, the cathedral was shelled and vandalized and its elaborate frescoes were left to decay. Most of the icons and part of the iconostasis were stolen; parts of the 18th century iconsostasis were also set on fire. The excavations undertaken under the cathedral during 17 months in 1994–1995 covered and revealed many archaeological layers that allowed a historical timeline of the church and its surroundings to be constructed. On 10 October 1995 Metropolitan Elias Audi announced plans to restore the war-torn cathedral. The first phase of restoration began in 1998, under the supervision of a committee headed by Ghassan Tueni. The cathedral reopened its doors on 15 December 2003.〔〔〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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