On double churches in the Lebanon

A large number of churches with two parallel naves and two apses facing east were built in the mountains of lebanon during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. this unusual plan spread along the adriatic coast to italy,and also to southern france. by the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,the plan was widespread in europe and is found in great britain,scandinavia and russia. what was the original purpose of this plan and why was it especially favoured in the lebanon? two variant but similar plans were the object of earlier studies: churches with a double apse,but with single nave were studied by dimitrokallis,in 1976. the double basilica church was the subject of a celebrated essay by krautheimer in 1936,followed by an extensive study by sodini in 1980. while these earlier works do shed light on the purpose of the double-naved lebanese plan,they do not answer the question: why two equal naves,two apses with two altars and why are there so many churches of this type in the lebanon? two factors may have required the adoption of the double nave in the lebanon during the crusades: the first was the change in liturgical language from greek to syriac. the second was the split in non-chalcedonian congregations between the conservatives and the converts to rome and the papacy. a study of lebanese churches suggests this particular plan was designed to accommodate contemporaneous worship in at least two different languages and/or two different liturgies.