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The road to Beiteddine leaves
the coastal highway
17 kilometers beyond Beirut, just a few kilometers after the town
of Damour. From there it climbs quickly along the beautiful Damour
river valley for 26 kilometers to an elevation of 850 meters at Beiteddine.
The most spectacular view of the palace and its surroundings is from
the village of Deir El Qamar (Monastery of the moon), five kilometers
before Beiteddine.
The Beiteddine palace complex, Lebanon's best example
of early 19th century Lebanese architecture, was built over a thirty
year period by Emir Bechir El Chehab II, who ruled Mount-Lebanon for
more than half
a century.
Beiteddine - Surrounded by history
In the Middle Ages Lebanon was divided up
into fiefs governed by emirs or hereditary sheikhs. But in the
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Dar El Harim façade |
early years of the 17th century, Emir Fakhr Ed Dine II
Maan (d. 1635) succeeded in extending his power throughout these princedoms
and eventually ruled an area corresponding to present-day Lebanon.
His first capital was at Baaqline but because of a chronic water shortage,
he was forced to move to Deir El Qamar where there were copious springs.
When the Maan dynasty died out at the end of the 17th century, the
land was inherited by the emirs of the Chehab family. It was Emir
Bechir Chehab II who decided to leave Deir El Qamar and to construct
his own palace at Beiteddine (House of faith), a druze hermitage which
today is part of the palace.
In 1812, Emir Bechir obliged each of
his able-bodied males subjects to provide two days of unpaid labor
in order to ensure a plentiful supply of water at his new seat of
government. Within two years the project was completed.
The palace remained the emir's residence until his
forced exile in 1840. After the Ottomans suppressed the emirate
in 1842 the building was used by the Ottoman authorities as the
government residence. Later, under the French Mandate following
World War I, it was used for local administrative purposes.
The General Directorate of Antiquities carefully
restored Beiteddine to its original grandeur after it was declared
a historic monument in 1934. Beginning in 1943, the year of Lebanon's
independence, the palace became the summer residence of the president.
Bechara El Khoury was the first president to use Beiteddine and
he brought back the remains of Emir Bechir from Istanbul, where
he had died in 1850.
Today Beiteddine, with its museums and its gardens,
is one of Lebanon's major tourist attractions. Qualified guides
are available for your tour through this monument, which is open
daily. A visit to Beiteddine is ideally combined with nearby Dei
Al Qamar.
V I S I T I N G T H E
P A L A C E
Dar El Baraniyyeh, The outer section of the Palace.
On the approach to the palace a large parking
area offers some of the best views of the buildings and grounds.
The main entrance leads to a 107x45 meter courtyard, Al-Midan, where
horsemen, courtiers and visitors used to meet for various gatherings.
From here, too, the Emir would leave with his retinue in solemn
procession, either for war or for the hunt. On the ground floor
is a museum, inaugurated on May 1, 1991. Through photographs, documents
and manuscripts, it tells the life story of Kamal Jumblatt, member
of Parliament, cabinet minister and Druze leader.
Along the right side of this court is a two-story
wing, Al-Madafa, which was once used for receiving guests. it was
the custom that anyone of rank would keep open house for passerby
and that a visitor would not be asked for his identity or the purpose
of his journey until he had been there for three days.
A staircase leads to the upper floor, which was
entirely restored in 1945 using old documents as a guide. Before
the recent war in Lebanon this wing housed an important museum of
the feudal period. today it is the location of the Rashid Karami
Archeological and Ethnographic Museum. The large collection includes
pottery from the Bronze and Iron Ages, Roman glass, gold jewelry,
lead sarcophagi and glazed pottery from the Islamic period.
In the first room on this floor is a complete
model of Beiteddine, which will help the visitor visualize the size
and configuration of the buildings. More rooms, devoted to ethnographic
subjects, contain a collection of ancient and modern weapons, as
well as costumes of the feudal period.
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The courtyard of Dar El Wousta |
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Dar El Wousta, the middle
section
of the Palace.
The entrance to the central section of the palace is from
a double stairway at the far western end of the courtyard, where
a bust
of Kamal Jumblatt stands. From this point on, the impressive
but austere appearance of the outside court and buildings gives
way to the delightful architecture and greenery that has given
Beiteddine its nickname of Lebanon's Alhambra. |
From the main entrance of this
wing a vaulted passage at the top of the double staircase turns
to the right, towards the apartments of the Hamade Sheikhs of
the
Shouf who were responsible for the protection of the Palace.
A turn to the left brings you to the offices
of the Emir's Ministers. The wing opens out onto an elegant
courtyard whose fountains accent the graceful arcades on three
sides
of the court is completely open in order to provide full enjoyment
of the countryside. |
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Dar El Kataba façade |
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The luxurious rooms along
this court, the corners of which are occupied by wooden balconies
or kiosks called comandaloune, are richly decorated with mosaics
and marquetry and fitted with the best of traditional oriental
furnishings. These rooms served as offices and receptions salons
for the emir's minister, secretaries and members of his court.
One of the rooms is attributed to the emir's Minister, Boutros
Karami. |
| The walls and ceilings are covered in
intricately carved and painted wood, embellished with Arab calligraphy.
The marble fountains and panels were ingeniously designed to
cool the surroundings in summer, while brass braziers stood
ready to warm the chilly stone interiors in winter. the northern
side of this court, Dar Al Kataba, served as offices for the
secretaries. |
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Dar El Harim, the private apartments.
At the far end of this courtyard rises the Dar
El Harim, composed of a large and richly decorated façade, the Upper
Harem, the reception room or salamlik, the Lower Harem, the kitchens
and the baths.
The monumental archway opens on the left to the
reception wing, which is made up of a waiting room and a hall. These
are by far the most ornate room in the palace.
The waiting room has a single column supporting the vault and is known
as "the room of the column". The reception hall itself, or salamlik,
is built on two levels, the first notable for a fine mosaic floor
and walls covered with carved marble, sculptures and inscriptions.
One of these inscriptions reads:" The homage of a governor towards
God is to observe justice, for more than a thousand months of prayer."
Emir Bechir sat on the raised platform at the bay
end of the room, smoking his long pipe or narguileh, as he
dispensed justice with dignity and absolute power. Here the emir held
court and carried out the business of his emirate.
On the right of the entry door is the Upper Harem,
with the so-called "Lamartine's room" and another important room called
"Mahkamat", or tribunal.
The corridor leads to the Lower Harem with the private apartments
of the emir and his family set around a courtyard enclosed on four
sides.
Two liwans on the sides of this court allowed the family members to
enjoy the fresh air.
On the angle of the Upper and the Lower Harems
are the kitchens where servants prepared the daily meals for more
than 500 people. The food was taken from there to the reception
and living areas where it was placed on trays set in front of the
divans of the notables and their visitors. From the balconies of the
Dar El Harim, which look out across a vast terraced valley, can be
seen the most spectacular view of the palace's surroundings. |
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Hammam, or Baths
At the northern edge of the Dar El Harim section is the "hammam",
one of the most beautiful in the Arab world. Following a tradition
dating to Roman times, these baths comprise a cold room or frigidarium,
used for undressing and for relaxation before and after the
bath. In this reception room one could discuss politics or literature
or listen to the latest rumors. The second section of the baths
comprise the lukewarm room, or the tepidarium. This was used
for massages and served as a transition between the cold and
warm sections. The third part comprised the warm rooms or caldarium.
The paving stones of the baths were supported by brick pillars
and vault with heated air passing underneath.
Beyond the baths is the tree-shaded tomb of Sitt Chams, the
first wife of the emir. She is buried in a domed tomb |
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Hammam:the cold room |
| surrounded by cypress trees in the corner
of the gardens. When the ashes of the emir were brought back
from Istanbul in 1947 they were placed in the same sepulcher.
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The Stables and the Mosaic Exhibition
Dar El Wousta and Dar El Harim are built
over a series of recently and beautifully restored vaulted stables
that used to accommodate 600 horses and their riders, as well
as the 500 foot-soldiers of the emir's guard. Today these stables
hold an extensive collection of Byzantine mosaics. The largest
of them come from the ruins of a Byzantine church in the coastal
city of Jiyyeh, south of Beirut. the Greek inscriptions appearing
on the mosaics date them to the 5th and 6th centuries A.D. Mosaics
from other sites are displayed in these stables and the adjacent
gardens.
Near the mosaic museum is the hermitage, or Khalwa, a place
of religious seclusion for the Druze. This large room in existence
long before Emir Bechir built the palace, has been restored
and is open to visitors. |
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Mosaics of colored marble |
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Palace of Emir Amine |
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Palace of Emir Amine
A palace was built for each of the emir's three sons, Qassim,
Khalil and Amine. The palace
of Emir Qassim, now in ruins, is perched on a promontory facing
the great Palace. Today Emir Khalil's palace is used as the
Serail of Beiteddine, the seat of local administration.
As for the palace of Emir Amine, which dominates the Beiteddine
complex, it was beautifully restored and converted into a luxury
hotel by the Ministry of Tourism.
Now called the Mir Amine Palace, most of the hotel's 24 rooms
open onto private terraces and a hanging garden. |
| Within walking distance from Mir Amine
Palace is the summer residence of the Maronite Archbishop of
Sidon, formerly Emir Bechir's country house. Some of the original
architectural elements remain, including a beautiful stone doorway
covered with a pagoda-shaped roof. This elegant doorway is reached
by a high circular staircase easily visible from a distance.
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