About Beit ed Dine

of Faith"). It took about 30 years to complete. The best craftsmen from Damascus and Aleppo as well as Italian architects were invited and given much freedom, so its style is a cross between traditional Arab and Italian baroque.

After 1840, when Bashir was sent into exile the palace was used by the Ottomans as a government building, during the French Mandate its role was preserved and it served as a local administrative office. In 1934, it was declared a national monument. In 1943, Bechara El Khoury, the first Lebanese president, declared it the official president's summer residence. During the Lebanese civil war it was heavily damaged. After 1984, when fighting in the area receded, Walid Jumblatt ordered its restoration. Parts of the palace are today open to the public while the rest is still the president's summer residence.

Bashir built three more palaces in the town for his sons, till today only Mir Amin Palace survived and is today a luxury hotel.

Beiteddine is home to a Lebanese Red Cross First Aid Center.

Today, Beiteddine hosts an annual summer lunch at the Saade Palace. Only elite guests are chosen to attend this one of a kind lunch "en plein air", carefully chosen by his highness Raminou de Saade (Arabic for Rami Bonheur de Beiteddine)