As early as 1651 , local notable Cheikh Abou Nawfal Khazen requested Jesuit Fathers to establish a mission on his lands in Antoura . In 1773 , their efforts were realized . The Lazarists were given the mission to preach God 's teaching . In 1834 , The apostolic delegate , Monseigneur Auvergne encouraged the transformation of the mission into a teaching college . Antoura 's beginnings were quite modest , in October 1834 seven students were enrolled , thus forming the first secondary Francophile school in the Middle East . Over the course of the 19th century , the college developed spectacularly . In 1874 , the central building was built . the Left wing opened in 1884 and the big chapel was inaugurated in 1895 . The symbol of the school , the tower was built in 1904 and sealed the courtyard beautifully . During World War I and the Armenian Genocide , the Lazarists were expelled by the Ottomans and the college was transformed into an orphanage where , under the direction of Djemal Pasha and Halide Edip Adıvar . About 1,000 Armenian and 200 Kurdish children were forcefully Turkified . The story of the Turkification of the children during the Armenian Genocide is vividly portrayed in Goodbye , Antoura , released in English in 2015 and written by one of the children who were interned at the orphanage
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Collège Saint Joseph – Antoura