Inspired by the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, Saint George Maronite Cathedral was built between 1884 and 1894, and inaugurated by Bishop Youssef Debs. Prior to this, the Maronite community of Beirut had made use of a small church that stood nearby and dated back to 1753. In 1954, engineer Antoun Tabet undertook restoration works inside the cathedral. Originally planned in the shape of a cross, its transept was shortened and arches added at either end. Badly damaged during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), the cathedral was completely rehabilitated by 1997, recovering its original Renaissance cruciform shape. It was inaugurated in April 2000. Beneath the forecourt of the cathedral’s annex, significant archaeological remains have been unearthed and preserved. They include a Hellenistic structure, part of the Roman Decumanus Maximus colonnaded street, and an Ottoman wall.