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==History==
[[Image:Monastery_of_Our_Lady_of_Balamand.jpg|thumb|right|Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand (Tripoli, Lebanon)]]The site of the monastery was formerly a monastery founded by Cistercian [[monk]]s in 1157 and was known variously as ''Belmont'', ''Bellimonte ultra Mare'', and ''Bellus-Mons''. This was the Cistercian monks' first overseas [[abbey]], founded during the western European Crusades into the [[Holy Land]]. In the early part of the seventeenth century the monastery came under the authority of the local Orthodox Church. In recent times a theological faculty functioned within the monastery to educate new [[clergy]] until the formation, in 1971, of [[St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology (Tripoli, Lebanon)|St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology]] which later became part of the University of Balamand in Tripoli.
Because of its past, the structure of the monastery follows the plan of Cistercian monasteries, with buildings located around the courtyard. Of the existing structures, the [[Church]] of Our Lady of Balamand, with its unique bell tower, and the present entrance to the monastery were built in the twelfth century. The Great Hall of the Monks, built in the thirteenth century, has been remodeled and now serves public events. The thirteenth century Chapter House was rebuilt after the monastery came under control of Orthodox monks in 1604. The monks found that many of its vaults had collapsed as a result of damage incurred during the battles in 1289 that ended with the fall of the Crusader County of Tripoli. During the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries the structure was converted into the Church of St. George.