The René Moawad Garden (French: ''Jardin René Moawad'') known by the public as the Sanayeh Garden is located in the Sanayeh district of

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. The garden is one of the oldest public open-air spaces in the capital.Ashkal Alwan
/ref> Khalil Pasha (1864–1923), commander of the Turkish Sixth Army during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ordered the creation of the garden in 1907.

Name

The garden has changed names since its construction in the first decade of the 20th century. It was first called The Hamidi Public Garden, but the public for decades referred to it as the Sanayeh Garden. It was renamed in honor of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

René Moawad René Moawad ( ar, رينيه معوض; 17 April 1925 in Zgharta – 22 November 1989 in Beirut) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 9th President of Lebanon. He served for 18 days, from 5 to 22 November 1989, before his assassination by ...

who was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

on November 22, 1989, near to the garden.

Location

The garden is bordered from the north by

Rue Spears Rue Spears is a street in Beirut, Lebanon that was named after British General Edward Spears who in 1941 liaised with General Charles de Gaulle and his Free French movement to liberate the Levant. He was appointed the British minister in Beirut ...

, from the south by Rue Alameddine, from the east by Rue Halawani and from the west by Rue Sanayeh. Facing the garden on

is the complex of the National Library. Covering 22,000 square meters, the garden is a popular destination for walkers, joggers and children. The garden is also popular among the elderly who sit in the shade of the trees to play cards,

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

. The garden is also a place where artists exhibit their work.

During the 2006 War

After the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

started, the garden and its surrounding became a meeting point for

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s and

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s. The "Sanayeh Relief Center" was located in a house facing the garden.

In literature and theater

*''Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and War'' by Annia Ciezadlo :"I went to a small public park called Sanayeh Garden with Jackson and our friend Abdulrahman, who was going around who was going around Ras Beirut buying food and medicine for refugees with his own money." :"The only people handling the refugee crisis in Sanayeh Garden were a handful of students in their teens and twenties, one of them wearing the splint and bandage of a recent nose job." *''Jnaynet Al-Sanaye (Sanayeh Garden) a play by

Roger Assaf Roger Assaf (in Arabic روجيه عساف ; born in 1941) is a Lebanese playwright, director and actor. Biography Assaf was born in Lebanon, son of Joseph Assaf and Rosette Brunas. His father was Lebanese and his mother was French. He studied ...

(1997)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rene Moawad Garden Gardens in Lebanon Parks and gardens in Beirut Parks in Lebanon Tourist attractions in Beirut Urban public parks