Tripoli’s Crusader-era Church of Saint-Jean du Mont-Pèlerin belonged to the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem. It is located inside the Maronite cemetery, in Abou Samra area.
The church is named after Tripoli’s famous Crusader-era castle, known as “Chateau Mont-Pèlerin“, a designation given by the crusaders to the hill on top of which their stronghold was erected.
Structure
Built in the early 12th century AD, the church is made up of two chapels, each having a nave. The north chapel has an apse with a horseshoe shape arch, and the southern chapel has a rectangular one. Both structures communicate by means of a door fitted at the level of the separation between the nave and the apse, through a 2m passage, which in turn is centered by a staircase that linked to the roof.
The church’s plan suggests it had a significant purpose; due to unknown reasons, construction works were abandoned.
Cemetery
Excavation works in the south chapel revealed its usage as a possible funerary site, evidenced by the discovery of medieval-era tombs similar to those found inside the fortress.
In the north chapel’s center, a rectangular cistern with a decantation basin was discovered, which also included a communal grave for bones moved during a cemetery reorganization. Artifacts found, such as chains with crosses, medals, copper buttons with crescents and stars, and coins from the WWI era, suggest the cistern, likely from the Mamluk period, was converted into an ossuary around that time.
Additionally, fragments of 11th-century funeral inscriptions in Kufic script were unearthed, and are part of a collection discovered in the Castle which was erected initially on top of a Shiite necropolis during the Banu Ammar period.
Karim Sokhn
Tour Operator & Tour Guide
References:
Chronique Archeologique du Liban-Nord II: 1973 1974 par Hassan Salameh-Sarkis
