Beiteddine Palace

Beiteddine Palace (Arabic: قصر بيت الدين, romanized: Qaṣr Bayt ad-Dīn) is an 18th-century palace in Beiteddine, Lebanon, built by Bashir II. The palace hosts the annual Beiteddine Festival and the Beiteddine Palace Museum. and is also the residence of the President of Lebanon during the summer.

Emir Bashir II of the Shihab dynasty, who later became the ruler of the Mount Lebanon Emirate, built the palace between 1788 and 1818 at the site of the Druze hermitage. After 1840, the palace was used by the Ottomans as a government building. During the French Mandate it served as a local administrative office.

In 1943, the palace was declared the president's official summer residence. During the Lebanese Civil War it was heavily damaged. Parts of the palace are today open to the public while the rest is still the president's summer residence.

A gathering of troops here for an incursion into Syria under Ibrahim Pasha is recorded in the notes to Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poetical illustration The Gathering of the Chieftains at Beteddein. to an engraving of a painting (showing the palace) by William Henry Bartlett in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839.

UNESCO gave the palace enhanced protection during the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon to safeguard against damage; it was one of 34 cultural sites to receive enhanced protection.

The Beiteddine Palace is recognized as a fine illustration of Lebanese architecture from the early 19th century, with notable Italian influences.

The palace's main entrance leads to a 107x45 meter courtyard. Along the right side of this court is a two-story wing, Al-Madafa, which was once used for receiving guests.

The entrance to the central section of the palace, Dar El Wousta, is from a double stairway at the far western end of the courtyard. From this point on, the impressive but austere appearance of the outside court and buildings gives way to the delightful architecture featuring beautiful arcades, mandaloun balconies, fountains, facades, rooms with carved and painted cedar wood embellished with Arabic calligraphy, antique furniture, inlaid marble and fine mosaics. These rooms served as offices and receptions salons.

At the far end of this courtyard rise the private apartments, Dar el Harim, composed of a large and richly decorated façade, the Upper Harem, the selamlik, the Lower Harem and the kitchens.

Text adapted from “Beiteddine Palace” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Beiteddine Palace ranks #1,505 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #4 of the 15 mapped in Lebanon. Founded 1818, it is older than 12% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 562 atlas entries founded in the 19th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,453 times in the last 60 days, more than 71% of the atlas. 7 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Beirut, 22 km away. It is one of the 109 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Levant. See how Lebanon compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗