Location Beirut, Lebanon Architect Altina Address Beirut, Lebanon | Built 1860 Architectural style(s) Lebanese architecture | |
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The Ziade Palace (Arabic: قصر زيادة) is a 19th-century grand mansion located in Beirut's Zokak el-Blat quarter.
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History
The mansion was commissioned in 1860 by an unknown individual and built by an Italian architect known solely as Altina. It was purchased ten years later by Youssef Nasr, a wealthy Lebanese expatriate in England.
In 1930 the palace was bought by the Ziade brothers; Joseph a physician and Louis an accomplished lawyer and president of the Aleppo bar association. The Ziades were related to the-then Maronite archbishop of Beirut Ignatius Ziade and to the renowned feminist poet, writer and essayist May Ziade
In addition to its singular architecture, the palace gained notoriety following an incident involving Joseph and May Ziade. May suffered severe depression and neurasthenia for years after the loss of both her parents and above all Khalil Gibran. She also had an unhappy love affair with the writer Abbas el-Akkad in 1936 which worsened her condition. In 1938, Joseph Ziade visited May in Egypt and convinced the disconsolate poet to return to Beirut and to reside in the family mansion close to friends and family.
May returned to Beirut in 1939; days after her arrival to the Ziade palace, May was committed to the 'Asfourieh asylum in Hazmiyeh against her own will. Joseph tried to gain control on her estate because she was thought to be unable of managing her own properties. May eventually recovered her lucidity and returned to Cairo where she died on October 17, 1941.
The house was occupied by the Ziades until the beginning of the Lebanese civil war in 1975. The mansion was pillaged and occupied by militias during the conflict and it was left with a bullet-peppered facade and a poor condition. The structure was classified as a historic monument by the Lebanese Directorate General of Antiquities and is awaiting funds for appropriation or restoration.
Architecture
The sandstone mansion comprises three stories_ a ground floor and two levels. The mansion takes the form of a typical Lebanese central hall house with a facade lined with the iconic three arches and numerous Oeil-de-boeufs that are typical to 19th century Lebanese aristocratic houses. The mansion is also characterized by a riwaq on its eastern facade, it is a decorated covered area in a gallery, with broken arches opening onto a garden. The roof is made up of red tiles and is decorated with twin towers on the structure's northern facade. In 2010, the Ziade mansion along with other 19th century palaces were further protected by a ministerial decree by then culture minister Salim Wardeh.