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# A Lebanese Orthodox priest at the Balamand Stauropegic Monastery of the Dormition, situated 80 kilometres north of Beirut
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/livanskii-pravoslavnyi-sviashchennik-v-balamandskom-uspenskom-stavropigialnom-muzhskom-monastyre-raspolozhennom-v-80-kilometrakh-k-severu-ot-beiruta/
- Published: 2025-08-01T05:32:16.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:29:15.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archive, Faith, The East, Society

Photograph by Marilyn Stafford, 1960.

The Balamand Monastery is one of the oldest foundations in the Patriarchate of Antioch, with a history stretching back more than 850 years.

The number of Christians living in Lebanon is declining inexorably: over the past forty years it has fallen by 25-30%, and today they make up no more than 35% of the population, with the Orthodox no more than 10%.