Architecture of Lebanon

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Batroun, Lebanon
Beiteddine Palace
Cathedral of St Elie and St Gregory the Illuminator

The architecture of Lebanon embodies the historical, cultural and religious influences that have shaped Lebanon's built environment. It has been influenced by the Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Umayyads, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans and French[citation needed]. Additionally, Lebanon is home to many examples of modern and contemporary architecture. Architecturally notable structures in Lebanon include ancient thermae and temples, castles, churches, mosques, hotels, museums, government buildings, souks, residences (including palaces) and towers.

Roman architecture

Greeks.[1]

The temples have faced theft, earthquakes and civil wars and wear.

archaeologists rebuilt the temples. In 1984, Baalbek was made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.[2] They are described as being “the finest example of imperial Roman architecture”[citation needed
].

The Jupiter temple is a six Corinthian columns of the great temple, and it is a 22 meters high column built on a podium. In this Temple, only six columns remain out of the 54 massive columns that originally surrounded the sanctuary. The little temple is found near the Jupiter Temple is known as the Temple of Bacchus and it was built in the second century A.D. Finally, it is considered to be the best preserved Roman temple of its size.[3]

Castles

Lebanon is known for its many stone castles.

Cities

Byblos

Crusaders from indigenous limestone and the remains of Roman structures. Saladin captured the town and castle in 1188 and partially dismantled the walls in 1190. Later, the Crusaders recaptured Byblos and rebuilt the fortifications of the castle in 1197.[6]

Sidon

Egyptian Pharaohs and the Greeks. The city is known for the castle of Sidon which is a castle on the sea that was built in 1228 by Crusaders. The castle was built on the remains of a Phoenician shrine dedicated to the God Melkart. This castle's location falls on an island in the Lebanese city of Saida, it is about 80 meters from the beach, linked by bridge building on a rocky nine barrages. The roof is usually used for sightseeing providing an exquisite view of the port and the old remains of the city. The city Sidon by itself has become a touristic destination because of its value in the history of the country as a whole and for the beauty of its architecture.[7]

Beirut

]

Up until the first half of the 19th century it was not as significant as other cities along the Mediterranean Sea coast (Tripoli and Damascus), and few pre-19th century landmarks remain, apart from some religious buildings.[8] In 1831 Ibrahim Pasha established himself in the city in the wake of his struggle against Ottoman rulers.[8] The toll road to Damascus was constructed in 1863, Orozdi Bek Department store in 1900, and the Arts and Crafts School in 1914.[8]

The city now features modern buildings alongside arabesque

Byzantine structures. Beirut is famous for a group of five columns that were discovered underground in the heart of the city in 1963, found to be a small part of a grand colonnade of Roman Berytus.[9]

Religious architecture

Deir el Qamar

Roman temples include the Temples of

Niha
. There Are also a few Ancient Phoenician Temples for example The Temple Of Eshmun, which is dedicated to the Phoenician God Eshmun, The God of Healing. It is located near the Awali river, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northeast of Sidon in southwestern Lebanon.

There are thousands of churches in Lebanon that include but are not limited to:

]

19th century

The

Saint Joseph University).[11] New primary and secondary schools were also established.[11]

20th century and Classical architecture to Modernism

Hariri Memorial Garden in Beirut Central District

20th century architecture in Lebanon included the period of the

Mleeta. Artisans House (1963) in Ain-Mreisseh and Electricite du Liban headquarters in Beirut. Monastery of Unity in Yarze, School of Ain Najm
, and SNA-Assurances headquarters (1970) in Beirut are other modernist examples.

Contemporary architecture

International architecture firms have also played a role and 21st century projects include the New Beirut Souks by Rafael Moneo, Hariri Memorial Garden[13] and Zaitunay Bay. The Arab Center for Architecture (ACA) was established in Beirut in 2008.[14] VJAA designed the Charles Hostler Center (2008) in Beirut.[15]

Residential architecture

The first residential houses in Lebanon were the Phoenician houses.[16] They were bricks and the roofs where always formed from massive rocky segments. The perception deriving the method of building a house met some changes after the

third millennium BC when the walls of the houses increased in height, some houses were built with stones, others remained rectangular and all increased in dimensions.[citation needed] The exterior and the interior walls where covered sometimes with mud.[citation needed
]

Lebanese houses incorporated the rules of the

French mandate
.

Architects

Prominent architects who worked in Lebanon include:

See also

References

  1. ^ Baalbek: Heliopolis, city of the sun, p. 15. Dar el-Machreq Publishers : distribution, Librairie Orientale. Retrieved 12 November 2011
  2. ^ UNESCO World Heritage Review describing Baalbek
  3. ^ Ballbek Info, Middle east countries, Retrieved on 18 November 2011
  4. ^ Byblos Info, Middle east cities, Retrieved 19 November 2011
  5. . Retrieved 18 January 2012.
  6. ^ "Byblos Castle". Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  7. ^ Aḥmad ʻĀrif Zayn, (Sidon's history) تاريخ صيدا, Princeton University Arabic collection, مطبعة العرفان 1913
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Architecture edited by Stephen Sennott pages 128- 130
  9. ^ Samir Kassir, Malcolm Debevoise, Robert Fisk, Beirut University of California Press, University of California Press, 2010
  10. ^ Beit ed-Dine بيت الدين, barelias Archived November 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved on 20 November 2011
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Heart of Beirut: Reclaiming the Bourj by Samir Khalaf
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-08-07. Retrieved 2015-07-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ Hariri Memorial Garden by Vladimir Djurovic Archived July 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Architecture Lab
  14. ^ About Arab Center for Architecture
  15. ^ "Charles Hostler Center / VJAA". 29 September 2009.
  16. ^ Peter Rainow, HISTORY OF LEBANON Greenwood histories of the modern nations, Greenblood Pub Group, 2010
  17. ^ Distinguished architect Pierre El-Khoury leaves a dazzling visual legacy July 8, 2005 The Daily Star (Lebanon)

Further reading

  • A dictionary of 20th century architecture in Lebanon, Alphamedia, Beirut by Yacoube G., 2004.