The Garden of Forgiveness (also known as ''Hadiqat As-Samah'' in Arabic) is a garden in

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 ...

, close to

Martyrs’ Square Martyrs' Square ( ; french: Place des Martyrs), historically known as "Al Burj" or "Place des Cannons", is the historical central public square of Beirut, Lebanon. Like the Martyr's Square in Damascus, it is named after the 6 May 1916 executi ...

and the wartime Green Line (1975-1990).

History

The area was classified as non aedificandi (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for "not to be built"), in the Master Plan of the

City Center. British-Lebanese citizen Alexandra Asseily first came up with the idea for the garden in 1998 as a response to 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 ...

. In 1998, the winning design of

Gustafson Porter Kathryn Gustafson (born 1951) is an American landscape architect. Her work includes the Gardens of the Imagination in Terrasson, France; a city square in Évry, France; and the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park, London. Sh ...

was chosen for its construction. The design brought together different aspects of Lebanon’s ancient heritage and rich landscapes, emphasizing national unity. Excavations on the site revealed the two main streets of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

city of

Berytus ) or Laodicea in Canaan (2nd century to 64 BCE) , image = St. George's Cathedral, Beirut.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Roman ruins of Berytus, in front of Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in moder ...

, the Cardo and Decumanus Maximus, and, underneath them, a sacred platform dating from Phoenico-Persian times. Construction on the site by Beirut redevelopment company Solidere began in 2003. In 2006, the construction of the garden was placed on hold due to 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 ...

. It remains on hold as of 2019.

Location

The garden is surrounded by places of worship belonging to different denominations.

References

External links

Plans and descriptions
Gustafson Porter + Bowman {{coord missing, Lebanon Gardens in Lebanon Parks in Lebanon Urban public parks Parks and gardens in Beirut

History

Location

See also

References

Further reading

External links