Saint Paul Basilica

Saint Paul Basilica in Harissa, built between 1947 and 1962 and inspired by Byzantine architecture, serves as the headquarters of the Missionary Society of Saint Paul, a Melkite Greek Catholic religious society founded in 1903 by Bishop Germanios Mouakad of Baalbek. Dedicated to Saint Paul the Apostle, the basilica celebrates the Byzantine liturgy in Arabic within an interior adorned with traditional mosaics. Located just south of the Our Lady of Lebanon statue and visible from the shrine, it stands among the major Christian institutions atop Harissa hill. The basilica was visited by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, when he signed the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente during his apostolic journey to Lebanon.