The Cathedral of Saint John Mark of Byblos It is in “the oldest city in the world” Byblos, a city inhabited continuously for more than 8 thousand years, that the Romanesque Church of Saint John was built by the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem around 1115 (An Eight-pointed cross is visible in the keystone of the left aisle of the Church) the exterior baptistery uses the same architectural and ornamental vocabulary as that found in all the places built by the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem. This Church was in the 12th century the conventual Church of the Order of Hospitallers before it was damaged by the earthquake of 1170, it had to be rebuilt over the centuries until 1840 when the west facade was completely destroyed by the bombardment of the English navy during the war against Abraham Pasha. It was partially rebuilt under the aegis of Father Raphael Al Zoghbi (1857). Today it is under the jurisdiction of Maronite monks with whom the Lebanese Association of Knights of Malta maintains excellent relations. It is expected to become in the coming years a center of spirituality of the Order of Malta in Lebanon.