Just after Deir el Qamar and overlooking a terraced hill appears the palace of Beiteddine. A delightful example of early 19th Century oriental architecture, the palace was built by Emir Bechir el Chehabi II (1788 -1840) who was for over fifty years not only the most independent and self-willed of sovereigns but whose reign was equally characterised by both justice and prosperity. Under his rule there was a boom in public works; roads were laid down or enlarged while new bridges were built and others repaired. His most spectacular achievement, however, remains the aqueduct of the Safa, a spring whose waters are regularly swollen by the melting snows.
Beiteddine
This 14-kilometer aqueduct was designed to ensure a water supply for the new capital, Beit Eddine, and for its construction Emir Bechir drafted his highlanders, each one being obliged to provide two day's unpaid labour. The resulting eighty thousand working days enabled the project to be completed in two years without putting undue strain on the Treasury.
Just after Deir el Qamar and overlooking a terraced hill appears the palace of Beiteddine. A delightful example of early 19th Century oriental architecture, the palace was built by Emir Bechir el Chehabi II (1788 -1840) who was for over fifty years not only the most independent and self-willed of sovereigns but whose reign was equally characterised by both justice and prosperity.
Under his rule there was a boom in public works; roads were laid down or enlarged while new bridges were built and others repaired. His most spectacular achievement, however, remains the aqueduct of the Safa, a spring whose waters are regularly swollen by the melting snows.
This 14-kilometer aqueduct was designed to ensure a water supply for the new capital, Beit Eddine, and for its construction Emir Bechir drafted his highlanders, each one being obliged to provide two day's unpaid labour.
The resulting eighty thousand working days enabled the project to be completed in two years without putting undue strain on the Treasury.