The famous Sursock Palace in Beirut, XNUMX years old, was destroyed by the explosion of the Port of Beirut

The famous Sursock Palace in Beirut, XNUMX years old, was destroyed by the explosion of the Port of Beirut 

It withstood 3 wars and was destroyed by the Beirut explosion.

The 160-year-old palace withstood two world wars and was a witness to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the French Mandate, and the independence of Lebanon. After the country's civil war between 1975 and 1990, the owners of Sursock Palace required 20 years of careful restoration to restore it to its former glory.

But the historical monument was destroyed in an instant, with hundreds of other buildings damaged by the explosion of the Port of Beirut
“In a split second, everything was destroyed again,” says Roderic Sursock, owner of Beirut’s historic Sursock Palace, one of the oldest buildings in the city. Hanging on the cracked walls, all the upstairs ceilings had disappeared and some walls had collapsed.

Sursock Palace, built in 1860 in the historic heart of Beirut on a hill overlooking the now-destroyed harbor, is home to exquisite artwork, Ottoman-era furniture, marble and paintings from Italy, collected by 3 generations belonging to the ancient Sursock family. From the former Byzantine capital of Constantinople, now called Istanbul, in Beirut in 1714. The 3-storey palace was a prominent Beirut landmark and, with its spacious garden, has been the setting for countless weddings and receptions over the years, and has been admired by tourists who visit the nearby Sursock Museum. .
The building in Beirut's Ashrafieh district is listed as a cultural heritage site, but Sursock said only the army came to assess the damage in the neighborhood, and so far, he has had no luck contacting the Ministry of Culture.

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