syriacpress.com
At the Monastery of St John the Baptist in Beit Mery, Lebanon’s history is written in stone
BEIT MERY (BETH MORYO), Tur Levnon —The Monastery of Saint John the Baptist (Mor Yuhanon) at al-Qalaa in Beit Mery, administered by the Syriac Maronite Antonine Order, stands on a site whose history reaches from ancient Phoenician worship through the Roman and Byzantine periods to the Christian monastic tradition that continues there today. Archaeological remains at Deir al-Qalaa include the ruins of a major Roman sanctuary associated with the god of dancing Baal Marqod, as well as a Byzantine church and mosaics.