Baptism House Dome

Described by Father Lamens in his book “Tasreeh al-Abasar” as “exquisite and delicate,” it is “a dome shaped like a hemisphere resting on four elliptical arches, with three visible arches.” It features “fine architectural and decorative work, with the fourth arch not visible as it is supported by the church wall.”

Plan of the church of Saint John Mark: three aisles ending in three apses, with the square baptistery beside the north aisle — Plan by Camille Enlart, 1925. Public domain

The construction of this dome, according to engineer Camille Enlart, dates to the beginning of the 13th century, and its style is Romanesque, although some decorations show Italian influence.

Black and white photograph of the baptistery of Saint John Mark in 1935, with two nuns standing before its arches — Achille Dassonville, 1935. MMSH, MédiHAL, Licence Ouverte

Black and white photograph through a stone arch: the domed baptistery of Saint John Mark and a crowd of children in the courtyard — Willy Pragher. Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, CC BY 4.0

The domed baptistery standing against the north wall of the church — Serge Melki, 2008. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Looking out through the carved arches of the baptistery onto the paved courtyard — Leon Petrosyan, 2020. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Aerial view of Saint John Mark and the baptistery dome

The southern side of the Baptism House dome used to be adorned with a carved stone piece in the Corinthian style, which, according to Ernest Renan, formed a threshold and a frontal frieze of a Roman temple. Renan transferred it to the Louvre Museum in Paris.