Balamand Monastery
{{Short description|Monastery in Lebanon}}
{{Redirect|Balamand|other uses|University of Balamand|and|Balamand declaration}}
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Image:Belmont Abbey Cloister and Nave Camille Enlart 1921.jpg
Image:Belmont Abbey Ground Plan Désiré Louis Camille Enlart 1921 12 17.png
The Balamand Monastery (historically called Belmont, Bellimontis ultra Mare, or Bellus-Mons), is a monastery for the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch founded in 1157 in Balamand (Belmont), the Crusader County of Tripoli, now in the Koura District, in Northern Lebanon. It was originally started by Cistercian monks and maintained as such until the Mamluk conquest in 1289, then reestablished as monastery by Greek Orthodox monks in 1610, after a poorly documented period of three centuries.{{Cite web |url=http://antiochpatriarchate.org/en/page/our-lady-of-balamand-patriarchal-monastery/142/ |title=Our Lady of Balamand Patriarchal Monastery - Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East |access-date=2017-11-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512194833/https://www.antiochpatriarchate.org/en/page/our-lady-of-balamand-patriarchal-monastery/142/ |archive-date=2019-05-12 |url-status=dead }}
On the grounds of the monastery has been established the University of Balamand, founded by the Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch in 1988, though the university claims to be secular and a distinct institution.{{Cite web |last=Salem |first=Elie A. |date=2023-03-10 |title=Message from the President |url=http://home.balamand.edu.lb/english/PresidentFrame.asp?id=637&fid=35&PageName= }}
History
The Balamand Monastery, originally known to Crusaders as Belmont (“beautiful mountain”), was founded in 1157 by French Cistercian monks in the Crusader County of Tripoli (modern-day northern Lebanon).{{Cite web |date=2025-02-12 |title=Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand |url=https://guide.moovtoo.com/LB/en/sites-religieux/detail/monastery-of-our-lady-of-balamand-9515 |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=guide.moovtoo.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=University of Balamand Catalog 2013-2014 |url=https://studylib.net/doc/8931646/graduate---university-of-balamand |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=studylib.net |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=University of Balamand - History and Evolution |url=https://www.balamand.edu.lb/AboutUOB/Pages/historyevolution.aspx}} Constructed between 1157 and 1169, the abbey flourished for over a century. The monastery remained under Cistercian control until the Mamluk conquest of Tripoli in 1289. After this, the site was abandoned; archaeological surveys show little Mamluk-era occupation.{{Cite web |title=Balamand Monastery Collection {{!}} PAVONe - Platform of the Arabic Versions Of the New Testament |url=https://uob-dh.org/lectionary/?q=taxonomy/term/6660 |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=uob-dh.org}} However, occasional hermitic presence persisted in the late 15th century, as suggested by Syriac–Arabic manuscripts from around 1492.{{Cite web |title=Balamand Monastery Collection {{!}} PAVONe - Platform of the Arabic Versions Of the New Testament |url=https://uob-dh.org/lectionary/?q=taxonomy/term/6660 |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=uob-dh.org}}
In 1603, Greek Orthodox monks, led by Youwakim, metropolitan of Tripoli, and with support from local Muslim officials, officially restored the monastery.{{Cite web |title=Patriarchate & Archdioceses - Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East»Monasteries - Our Lady of Balamand Patriarchal Monastery |url=https://www.antiochpatriarchate.org/en/page/142/}}{{Cite web |date=2023-05-30 |title=Monks and Monasteries of the Near East 9781463209698 |url=https://ebin.pub/monks-and-monasteries-of-the-near-east-9781463209698.html |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=ebin.pub |language=en}} By 1610, it had been re‑endowed as a waqf and repopulated by a dozen monks, replanting vineyards, olive groves, and livestock. The monastery prospered thereafter, becoming renowned for its hospitality and continued religious life through the Ottoman period. The English traveler Henry Maundrell, who stayed there in 1697, noted about forty monks and praised their industriousness despite their simplicity.
In 1988, Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch founded the University of Balamand on and around the historic monastery lands. Recognizing the site's long-standing role as a scholarly and printing center in North Lebanon, he envisioned a secular yet culturally rooted institution promoting dialogue among Christians and Muslims.{{Cite web |title=Patriarchate & Archdioceses - Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East - The University of Balamand |url=https://antiochpatriarchate.org/en/category/the-university-of-balamand/97/}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
- Louis J. Lekai: The Cistercians: Ideals and Reality, Kent State University Press, 1977. {{ISBN|0-87338-201-3}}.
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060225083023/http://www.balamandmonastery.org.lb/history.htm Official page]
- [http://www.balamand.edu.lb/ Official page]
{{Koura District}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|34.3683|N|35.7794|E|source:dewiki_region:LB_scale:5000_type:landmark|format=dms|display=title}}
Category:Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Lebanon
Category:Greek Orthodox monasteries
Category:Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch
Category:1157 establishments in Asia
Category:Cistercian monasteries
Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1150s
Category:1150s in the Crusader states
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