08 August 2010, Kesrwan, Mount Lebanon: His Holiness the Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas celebrated the consecration of the Mor Gabriel Church and the Syriac Center in Ajaltoun – Kesrwan – Mount Lebanon on August 8, 2010.

It is a pioneer center in the Syrian orthodox church of Antioch, and one of the most important projects of the Archdiocese of Mount Lebanon. It stands in the town of Ajaltoun, the capital city of Kesrwan and is 15 km away from the coastal city of Jounieh and 30 km to the north away from Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, admits most of the villages and towns in the mountain. Anyone going up the mountains or down to the coast passes through this town –Ajaltoun- the center is 50 m away from the highway.

The overall area of the land is 3600 m2 and the built area is around 28000 m2. It is composed of many buildings in 8 stories: 3 underground floors and 5 above the ground. The lower stories are halls and parking lots and storage rooms, used for different purposes while the upper stories include the big church and reception halls, gathering rooms, learning and training rooms and bedrooms. There are seven halls on the different floors for information gatherings, meetings, conferences, researches and church studies, educational, social, ecumenical and national activities, especially the meetings for religious dialogues Christian-Christian and Christian-Muslim) and general activities about issues like ecumenical work, human rights, justice and peace, woman, youth and children, people with special needs and handicapped (disabled), and so on…that falls within the activities and specialization of the world council of churches (WCC) and the middle east council of churches (MECC) and other organizations.

Source: Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate