The Monastery of Saint John the Baptist of Hrach: Two Syriac Epigraphs | ||||
| Arts and Architecture Journal | ||||
| Volume 1, Issue 2, December 2020, Page 29-49 PDF (383.53 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/aaj.2020.234700 | ||||
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| Author | ||||
| Amine Jules Iskandar | ||||
| Researcher | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| The 17th century monastery of Saint John the Baptist of Hrach was the first convent for nuns in Kesrouan. It was custom among the Syriac Maronites to have monasteries for religious men and women combined. After the Council of Louaizé in 1736 [1] convents and monasteries for monks would become separated. The monastery of Saint John the Baptist of Hrach however, since its foundation, was exclusively reserved for nuns. In 17th century Kesrouan, it was also custom for churches and monasteries to be founded by feudal families such as the Khazen [2]. This was not the case for Saint John the Baptist of Hrach, established on land bought by Bishop Joseph of Aqoura in 1642 [3]. After his election to the patriarchate in 1644, he built the monastery on this land and it was inaugurated in 1647. Instead of residing in the North at the patriarchal seat of Our Lady of Cannobin, he preferred to settle in the Kesrouan region, which was in full Christian expansion at the time. He made the monastery of Saint John the Baptist of Hrach his patriarchal residence and resided there until his death in 1648. He even convened a Syriac Maronite synod there on December 5, 1644 [4]. From then on, the name of this monastery was intricately linked to that of patriarch Joseph Peter of Aqoura or Yaoseph Petros Ainqouroyo, as evidenced by the two Syriac inscriptions engraved on stone and the numerous documents found in the monastery. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Monastery; Saint John; Syriac Epigraphs | ||||
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