Catholic Church - Al-Bassa
Documentation & Research
Client: The Melkite Greek-Catholic Church of Mi'ilya
Location: Shlomi, Israel
2023
In collaboration with Arch. Adi Har-Noy
The documentation file of the Catholic Church of the historical village of Al-Bassa was commissioned by the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church of Mi'ilya, representing descendants of Al-Bassa families in Israel, in October 2022. The documentation was ordered as a crucial measure towards the stabilization, restoration, and preservation of the church building after the cleaning work and the regulation of ownership of the building.
The historic square stone church building located in Shlomi's industrial area has an area of approximately 200 square meters. The church of Al-Bassa was a significant public building in the village of Al-Bassa, which was a well-established village in the Western Galilee region. For the Arab residents of the area, it was also a centre of cultural attraction. During the early 20th century, the Catholic Episcopal school, one of the most reputable schools in the land during the 1930s and 1940s, was situated next to the church in the center of the village.
Today, the church is among the few remaining structures of the village and the last of its core and public life that characterized it. Being erected over 160 years ago, it is probably the oldest of the few surviving buildings of the village, making it of particularly high importance.
The purpose of the documentation is to understand the identity, essence, and context of the Catholic Church, currently standing a single building in a barren field in the industrial area of the town of Shlomi.
In its current state, the building is disconnected from the physical fabric within which it was built and from the community it served.