Lebanon: Beirut's architectural heritage in danger after the double explosion

It is not only the future of Beirut that has darkened with Tuesday's double explosion. The murderous and devastating drama did not spare what was left of the glorious past of the Lebanese capital, striking museums and historic buildings with traditional architecture.

Famous for their triple-arched windows, typical of Beirut, hundreds of architectural gems dating from the Ottoman Empire or the French Mandate (1920-1943) were already suffering the ravages of time.

After being weakened during the civil war (1975-1990), these treasures saw Tuesday's explosion - equivalent to a magnitude 3.3 earthquake - deal them the final blow. 

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Some of the oldest buildings are indeed near the port, where several tonnes of ammonium nitrate, stored for six years in a warehouse, exploded.

In an 18th century palace, the explosion destroyed antiquities older than Lebanon, which this year marks the centenary of its creation.

In the patrician residence decorated with marble colonnades, doors were torn off and wooden panels from the Ottoman era enhanced with Arabic calligraphy were damaged. Broken stained glass windows, more than 200 years old, were swept into a corner.

"It's like a rape", confides Tania Ingea, the heiress of this house, formerly known under the name of "Palace of the Residence".

Built by one of Beirut's great fortunes, the Sursock family, the palace survived the 2006 civil war and destructive war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Blown stained glass windows and damaged works

With the explosion, "there is now a break between the present and the past," laments Tania Ingea. "It is an interruption in the transmission of the memory of a place, of a family, of a part of the history of the city."

Nearby, the Sursock Museum, a center of cultural life that houses an impressive collection of modern and contemporary art, has not been spared either. Just a few months ago, it hosted a unique Picasso exhibition.

Sursock Palace. https://t.co/1eWjhXCboc

Jute bags filled with debris are piled up in the courtyard, at the foot of the monumental staircase of honor where the newlyweds came to take pictures of themselves, in front of the chiseled facade of immaculate white and colored stained glass windows. These famous stained-glass windows have been shattered and the windows are nothing more than gaping holes.

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The palace built in 1912, a showcase of Venetian and Ottoman architecture, became a museum almost 50 years later, as its owner Nicholas Sursock, avid collector wanted.

Between 20 and 30 works were damaged, mainly by shards of glass, according to a spokesperson.

Among them is a centerpiece of the collection: a portrait of Nicholas Sursock painted by the Franco-Dutch Kees Van Dongen. The explosion caused the painting to fall, slashing the canvas.

The museum reopened in 2015 after eight years of renovation. Jacques Aboukhaled, the architect who led the work, ensures that the structure is intact, even if the rest has been blown away.

"I did not expect so much damage (...). I am very attached to this building. It is like our house", adds the sixty-year-old. According to him, the repairs could take more than a year and cost "millions" of dollars.

The national museum spared

A miracle, however. The National Museum, which houses a vast collection of Greek, Roman and Phoenician statues and antiquities, has escaped the worst. Only the exterior facade is damaged, according to Culture Minister Abbas Mortada.

Located on the old demarcation line during the Civil War, the neo-Hellenistic-style building found itself trapped in the fighting.

Reassuring. Received this August 8 from Beirut: "The National Museum was relatively spared. Apart from the glazed doors and windows and some damage to the building, the collection was not damaged. A miracle that the display cases on the 1st floor and their contents have been spared ". https://t.co/iBbeMhTIg7

The main pieces of the museum had been saved from looting thanks to the insight of the former curator, Maurice Chéhab, who had cast them in concrete.

Today, "hundreds" of buildings classified as national heritage are damaged, assures the minister. "It's going to take a lot of work."

A team carries out a census of the damage but the repairs will cost "hundreds of millions" of dollars, estimates Abbas Mortada, hoping for outside help, in particular from Paris.

“We need to carry out renovations as quickly as possible,” he says. "If winter comes and it's not over, the danger will be great."

With AFP

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