Beiteddine Palace
Encyclopedia
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
in Beiteddine, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. It hosts the annual Beiteddine Festival
Beiteddine Festival
The Beiteddine Festival is an annual summer festival that takes place in Beiteddine Palace in Beiteddine, Lebanon. It was established in 1984 with local artistic performances and it gradually started having regional and international performances...
and the Beiteddine Palace Museum.
History
The palace was built by emirEmir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
Bashir Shihab II
Bashir Shihab II
Bashir Chehab II was a Lebanese emir who ruled Lebanon in the first half of the 19th century.-Life:Bashir was born 2 January 1767 , son of Emir Qasim ibn Umar Chehab of the noble Chehab family which had came to power in 1697...
in the period between 1788 and 1818. It was the emir's residence until 1840. Afterwards the building was used by the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
authorities as the government residence. Later, under the French Mandate
French Mandate of Lebanon
The state of Greater Lebanon, the predecessor of modern Lebanon, was created in 1920 as part of the French scheme of dividing the French Mandate of Syria into six states....
following World War I, it was used for local administrative purposes. The General Directorate of Antiquities restored the palace after it was declared a historic monument in 1934. After independence in 1943, the palace became the summer residence of the president of republic.