Sursock Palace (French: ''Palais Sursock''), is a grand residence located on

Rue Sursock Rue Sursock is a historic street in the Rmeil district of Beirut in Lebanon. Named after one of Beirut's most prominent families, the Sursock family, the street is home to many of Beirut's beautiful historic mansions that were built in the 18th a ...

in the city 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 palace, which was completed in 1860 by Moïse Sursock, was owned by

Lady Cochrane Sursock Yvonne, Lady Cochrane (née Sursock; 18 May 1922 – 31 August 2020) was a Lebanese philanthropist, social figure, advocate of the arts, and a member of the prominent Sursock family. She died on 31 August 2020, from injuries sustained in the Bei ...

, an advocate of preserving historic buildings in Lebanon. The palace, a symbol of the

Sursock family The Sursock family (also spelled Sursuq) is a Greek Orthodox Christian family from Lebanon, and used to be one of the most important families of Beirut. Having originated in Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire, the family has lived in Bei ...

's rich history, is located on the historic Sursock Street, in the Rmeil district of Beirut. Sursock House is surrounded by gardens that can be hired for special events, such as weddings. The palace faces the

Sursock Museum The Sursock Museum ( ar, قصر سرسق), which is officially known as the Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum, is a modern art and contemporary art museum in Beirut, Lebanon. History In 1912, the wealthy and prominent Lebanese aristocrat Nicolas I ...

, a villa from 1912 that was bequeathed to the city of Beirut by

Nicolas Sursock Nicolas Sursock (1875–1952) was a Lebanese art collector and a prominent member of the Sursock family, one of the old aristocratic families of Beirut. Legacy Nicolas Sursock died in 1952 and is probably best known for bequeathing his private v ...

and became a museum in 1961. After the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

, it took 20 years of careful restoration to restore the palace before it reopened in 2010. It was damaged during the 2020 Beirut explosions, but there are plans to rebuild the palace.

References

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Sursock House The Sursock family (also spelled Sursuq) is a Greek Orthodox Christian family from Lebanon, and used to be one of the most important families of Beirut. Having originated in Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire, the family has lived in Bei ...

Sursock House (Lebanon) Houses completed in 1860 19th-century establishments in Ottoman Syria Sursock family

External links

Images of the Sursock house and museum following the August 2020 Beirut explosion.
from

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

newspaper.