We see here a lovely coastal hill, a thousand yards
from the sea, overlooking Beirut, the capital city
of Lebanon. It is covered with verdure, for there
are palm trees, almond trees, olive trees and fruit
trees of other kinds as well. Clothed in bloom of
different colors in season, it reminds one of the
hill of Zouk in Kesserwan, with its dwellings scattered
half hidden in the vegetation. Life is pleasant
on these slopes, worthy of the inspiration of poets
and of artists who come to paint, and attracting
all who love sublime beauty.
As a result of the present-day urban development,
Baabda has become an extension, an outer suburb,
of the capital Beirut, stretching twenty miles away.
Baabda, like Byblos, is the name of the town which
is situated in the area and is the administrative
center of the sector of the same name. The town
has a history covering a very beautiful region formed
of a main hill with several smaller hills, none
higher than four thousand feet. The name is of Aramaic
origin and means literally the house of Abed the
Slave, perhaps because the church was named Saint
Abda’s after its patron saint.
At Baabda there are many interesting ancient remains
and more modern monuments. There is a cave in a
rocky face on the north-eastern side, woods and
orchards, capitals of columns, Roman remains, a
fountain of hewn stone in the middle of the town,
and a cellar of Emir Melhem Shehab. There is a number
of churches, including that of Mar Abda built on
the site of an old Roman temple and the church of
the Shehab family. In the valley one notices the
arches of the Zobeida aqueduct, which used to supply
water to Beirut.
There are several hospitals, convents, monasteries,
and even universities. The University City of the
Lebanese University includes all the Faculties and
there is the University of the Antonine Fathers.
There are hotels, restaurants, cultural and sports
clubs, the residences of prominent personalities,
palaces, and luxurious modern villas, al of these
together making Baabda thoroughly urbanized and
much in demand in view of the demographic development
of the country south of Beirut, leading to important
economic and industrial activity. With the medical
centers, offices and state institutions, administrations
and ministries, there are many centers of activity.
The infrastructure is completely modern, particularly
the communications network which includes the surrounding
Beirut-Damascus high road. But there is more to
say.
From the time of the emirs to our own day, Baabda
has been the most important administrative center
of Lebanon. The Shehabs had their palaces in Baabda.
The Ottoman Turkish administrators known as the
Mutassarefs made it their capital in the nineteenth
century, particularly Wasaa Pasha, who restored
the Great Seraglio at the top of the hill. He added
two new wings to the original building, so allowing
space for the quarters of the police and gendarmerie,
the administrative offices, the law court, the prison,
and the governor’s quarters. All the official establishments
were provided for, Finance, and the commerce, property,
land and census registers.
The Seraglio is built in an eclectic style, with
an architecture inspired by the eighteenth century.
There is a central court, two stairways giving access
to the different floors, a basement, offices and
surrounding terraces roofed with red tiles. However,
all this old construction is no longer enough to
accommodate the municipal offices of Baabda. Modern
times have required the construction of further
extensions.
There are many foreign embassies at Baabda, often
including the ambassadors’ residences.
History follows its course in Baabda, where there
is the most important administrative center of all
Lebanon, the Presidency of the Republic. After World
War I and Independence, the Presidency was set up
at Kantari in Beirut, and then moved to Zouk in
Kesserwan and afterwards to Sinn el-Fil in the Beirut
outskirts.
During this period the government bought an extensive
plot of land covering a mountain to the north-east
of Baabda, so as to use it as the site for the Presidential
Residence. This was built and inaugurated during
the nineteen-sixties, and here the President and
the ministers meet to deal with affairs of state.
As for Parliament, this remains at the Etoile (Star)
Square in the center of the capital. The Presidency
of the Republic at Baabda comprises several blocks
of buildings adapted to modern requirements and
is surrounded by woods and main roads on all sides.
Baabda is an integral and living part of Lebanon
as a whole. One may visit the town despite the traffic
jams and pause to do one’s shopping and then visit
the market and commercial centers. During the fifteenth
and seventeenth centuries Baabda was a major center
of silk production, with cultivation of mulberry
trees and raising of silkworms for the industry.
Baabda is controlled by a very active municipal
authority. The sub-prefecture of which it is the
capital extends from the seashore to the heights
of Mount Knaiysseh at six thousand feet. Most of
the inhabitants are university graduates and form
an administrative elite for Lebanon. Many hold high
positions and many have emigrated.
Joseph Matar - Translation from the French:
Kenneth Mortimer
- The Seray of Baabda: >> View
Movie << (2017-10-17)
