Horsh Beirut ( ar, حرش بيروت) is an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

in the heart of the capital of

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 Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

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 ...

. The urban park is also known as Horsh El Snaubar ( ar, links=no, حرش الصنوبر or french: Bois de Pins). The park covers about of green space within municipal

History

National Museum of Beirut – Horsh Beirut

In the 13th century,

William of Tyre William of Tyre ( la, Willelmus Tyrensis; 113029 September 1186) was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I, the Englishman, a former ...

(or la, Willelmus Tyrensis), the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

chronicler A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

and the

archbishop of Tyre The see of Tyre was one of the most ancient dioceses in Christianity. The existence of a Christian community there already in the time of Saint Paul is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Seated at Tyre, which was the capital of the Roman provi ...

, named the forest of

, as "La Pinée" or "Sapinoie". The park, Horsh, has suffered throughout history from frequent abuse of its timber especially by the armies of the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

, Mamluks, Ottomans, and the

Allies of World War II The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy ...

to build ships and weapons. Large parts of the pine forest were segmented-out to become an Ottoman Casino in 1917 (which became the

Pine Residence The Pine Residence ( ar, قصر الصنوبر , ''Qasr al-snawbar'', literally "the palace of the Pines"), located in the Horsh district of Beirut, is the official residence of the French ambassador to Lebanon. The palace holds particular hist ...

later during the

French Mandate of Lebanon The State of Greater Lebanon ( ar, دولة لبنان الكبير, Dawlat Lubnān al-Kabīr; french: État du Grand Liban), informally known as French Lebanon, was a state declared on 1 September 1920, which became the Lebanese Republic ( ar, ...

), a horse racecourse in 1921, ''Al-Shohadaa'' Cemetery in 1958, and ''Rawdat al-Shaheedein'' Cemetery in the 1970s. Moreover, the development of new roads during the 1950s state planning produced some leftovers of the remaining woodland that became subject to conflict and appropriation. Horsh was bombed to burn by Israeli jet fighters during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Much of it was also turned into a

Palestinian refugee camp Camps are set up by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to accommodate Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, who fled or were expelled during the 1948 Palestinian e ...

. From a

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

forest over 1,250,000 m² in 1696 it decreased to a park over 800,000 m² in 1967 (≈ 5% of Municipal Beirut), Today, Horsh Beirut is a triangular park at the southern border of the city limited by Omar Beyhum Street, 22 November Avenue, Abdelnasser Avenue and National Museum of Beirut (''Musée national de Beyrouth''). It lies along the axis of the old airport road amidst areas of ''Mazraa'', ''Tarik el-Jdideh'', ''Qasqas'', ''Sabra'', ''Ghobeyri'', ''Shiyah'', ''Furn el-Shebak'', and Badaro while it is separated from ''Ras el-Nabaa'' by the

Beirut Hippodrome Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, is home to two hippodromes, a historic one from the Roman era and a modern one that was built in the late 19th century. Roman Hippodrome of Beirut The Roman Hippodrome, which occupies 3500 m² near the Maghen Abr ...

. The park, or Horsh Beirut, has been reconstructed after the end of 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 ...

and it has been closed for the general public for about 25 years. Lebanese citizens had to apply for a permission and only have chances to get one if they are older than 35 years. At the same time there have been reports of Western foreigners getting permission while applications by Lebanese were rejected. Beirut residents have repeatedly protested against the denial of access to the park including the unequal access policies for Western and non-Western park visitors. However, it ended up being reopened to the public by the governor of Beirut, Ziad Chebib, on September 3, 2015, in what was considered a victory for civil society after constantly demanding its reopening to all Lebanese citizens.

Image gallery

File:Beyrouth bois des pins 05.jpg, Information sign at the park gate from Badaro area File:Beyrouth bois des pins 03.jpg, Center of the park File:Beyrouth bois des pins 08.jpg, Center of the park File:Beyrouth bois des pins 01.jpg, Center of the park File:Beyrouth bois des pins 02.jpg, Center of the park File:Beyrouth bois des pins 07.jpg, Center of the park File:Beyrouth bois des pins 06.jpg, New sorting bin in the center of the park

References

{{Reflist * Al-Wali, T. (1993). ''Beirut fi'Tarikh wal'Hadara wal'Omran'' (Beirut: History, Culture, and Urbanism). Beirut: ''Dar al-Elem lil'Malayeen''.

External links

Aerial photograph
Gardens in Lebanon Parks in Lebanon Urban public parks Parks and gardens in Beirut