Double Helix

During a brief pause in the rain, the sun cast a shadow on this spiral stairway climbing the side of the Robert Mouawad Private Museum.

I liked how the stairway and its shadow made a double helix.

I've intended to post a map showing the location of the museum for quite some time.

The red arrow indicates the entrance. A wall runs around the entire garden surrounding the museum (the green area) so it's easy to miss the museum.

Cilicia Museum of Armenian Culture and Spiritual Heritage, Antelias

I love going to museums in and around Beirut, and then blogging about it.  This is another post like that. 

The Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia (or the Holy See of Cilicia) is headquartered in Antelias, a suburb just north of Beirut. It is the regional authority for the Armenian Church in Lebanon, Syria, and Cyprus. I learned that from wikipedia.

The headquarters is situated on the south-eastern side of the junction between the Dora and Antelias highways, and includes a cathedral, a library, a residence and a museum. A large wall surrounds the headquarters complex. This wall and the Holy See's location directy at the junction of major roads makes it very easy to find.

The museum interested us more than anything else. I'd seen online that they had an impressive collection of religious artifacts, paintings, carpets, and so on. It looked like something the kids would enjoy, so not long ago we took the children for a visit.

These are the postcards that the museum attendant gave me. The three with red backgrounds are reliquaries and other religious objects typical of the museum's collection. There was a room filled with objects like these and we tried to help the kids understand the role they play in the Armenian faith.

The postcard at the top left shows a page from an illuminated manuscript.  A large room in the museum is devoted to these texts and the opulent covers that typically went along with them. Their collection is enviable and our kids liked searching the drawings and book covers for interesting people, animals, and things. 

The postcard at the bottom right shows the exterior of the building that houses the museum.  In real life, the building's surroundings aren't  anything like the postcard--which looks like a photo of an architect's model . . . and maybe that's what it is.  In real life it's surrounded by other buildings and the wall, so maybe this is as good as it gets.

Visiting the museum is free of charge, and I love that! They're open Tuesday to Saturday 10-5 (last entry 4 pm) and Sunday 10-1(last entry 12 noon). Check out the museum's web site for a little history lesson and a preview of the collection.

And, a map in case it helps.


The pale yellow square is the headquarters, and there is an entrance on the Antelias road. Entering through this gate, the museum is ahead to the left, past the cathedral, facing you.

Silk Museum

Up until the 1950s, silk production was an important industry in Lebanon. But then there were wars, the invention of nylon, and China's development of year-round silk production. This combination had a devistating impact on silk production in Lebanon. These days, all that remains of the industry is the Silk Museum, just outside Beirut.

I had visited the museum once in 2005 but that was a very long time ago and I wasn't sure how to get there. Google led me to the museum's webside (linked above) which has a map, their opening hours, and a lot of information about the history of silk production in Lebanon. It's a good, useful website.

Our visit was very pleasant. The museum provides tours free of charge and without a previous appointment. It includes a brief video presentation. The museum is filled with hands-displays, including real, living silk worms and moths, plus all the tools needed to unravel the silkworm cocoon, gather the threads, and weave them into textiles.

A seperate section of the museum features rotating exhibitions of silks from many different culture and artistic traditions. In the past I saw a beautiful collection of chinese embroidery including robes and collars and shoes that were inspriational and unforgettable. On this visit the museum had an exhibition of amazing silk carpets, the private collection of the Maktabi family.

The museum is closed during the winter. When they reopen in the spring there will be a new temporary exhibit and I'm looking forward to returning to see what's next.

The best time to visit the museum is in May, because that is when silkworms are most active. We'll be going back for sure.

AUB Archeology Museum

A few days ago I took the kids to the AUB Archeology Museum. I'd been there before, but it was several years ago. Back then, the kids couldn't read and the museum's renovation wasn't yet finished.

This is another museum that doesn't allow photos inside. That's why we gathered the kids for a photo before we went in.

The museum has a website that goes into detail about the collection. We decided to visit during our kid's spring break because the museum's operating hours (M-F 9-5 in the winter, 10-4 in the summer, closed on holidays) make it difficult to see the museum during the school year.

The displays in the museum are presented in an attractive accessible way, and even though it isn't a huge museum I could tell that my kids had seen more than they could take in all at once. So we'll go back when we have another chance, which I hope will be soon, and see it all again.

The Robert Mouawad Private Museum

I've finally found the place in Beirut that I will describe as a "must see" destination. In downtown, situated near the west edge of the Grand Serail, there's an old mansion, home of the Robert Mouawad Private Museum.

The collection is eclectic. Chinese pottery from the 15th century, Syrian pottery and metalwork, burial reliefs from Palmyra, rugs, books, the second biggest diamond in the world, and lingerie Heidi Klum modeled on the runway for Victoria's Secret in 2005.

But it wasn't the collection that sparked my curiosity about the museum. It was the house. I'd heard that the house was the real treat--and it was. Of course, the collection is interesting, but the house is fascinating. At one point, I simply sat and stared at the walls, the beautifully inlaid, artistically crafted, intricately designed, meticulously maintained, excellently preserved, walls.



Photographs inside were not allowed. Bummer. I was just brave (defiant?) enough to take ONE anyway--on top right in the collage. The others are from the grounds outside where photography was no problem.

Visiting information is (very oddly) not on the museum's website, so, as a public service here it is:

The museum is open from 9-5 every day except Monday. Admission is $1 for children and students, $3 for Lebanese, and $6 for foreigners. It is worth every penny.

For $20, you can schedule a tour (give them a few days' notice if you want the tour in English).

Wonders of the Sea, Les Merveilles de la Mer

Lovely old homes like this one are becoming ever more rare in Beirut. This is one of the few that I've seen that still has a garden, just as it would have years ago when this style was the standard here in Lebanon. And, as you might have already guessed, this is not just any historic house in Beirut.

Well, first of all, it's not actually in Beirut. It's in Jdiedeh, which is just about 10 minutes north of here.

But as I was saying, it isn't just a nice old house. Inside there's a fantastic museum of marine life. It's called Wonders of the Sea, Les Merveilles de la Mer.

They have a website, which is nice and includes lots of information about the thousands of specimens you'll find on display and the species you'll find in their aquariums. Also on display is a very fun movie that shows various sea creatures eating, molting, giving birth (daddy seahorse!). The kids loved it.

The museum has parking, which you can get to from the road running along the north side of it. City Mall is a good point of reference to help you understand how to find it.

They're open year-round on weekdays 8:30-1:30. September-June they're also open Saturday/Sunday 3-7. Admission for adults is 8,000 LL, kids 5,000 LL.  Well worth the trip.

The Crypt Museum, St. George Cathedral

On a lark the other day, I stepped into the St. George Orthodox Cathedral downtown and asked if I could see the crypt.

I'd read that after the civil war, archeologists excavated the space beneath the cathedral before restoration work began. There they found burials, evidence of roman baths, foundations of bygone structures, a bit of a canal and road, mosaic floors.

This and much more is presented in the museum. I love the way the exhibit leads the visitor into the past--every few feet you'll find information about what the archeologists found beneath the cathedral. Push the green button on the info panel, and lights turn on drawing your eye to the notable things nearby.

I enjoyed looking, reading, learning in this museum. I could tell that they had carefully considered how to present so much history in an easily-understood way.

I'll be going back with my kids soon. Admission is LL 5,000 (adults) and LL 1,000 (children).  They're open every day except Monday--10 AM til 6 PM.

Beirut Exhibition Center

On Christmas, a lot of Beirut shuts down, but a lot of the city continues on it's merry way and it's a good thing it does. Think of all the families with active children--families like mine.

After a nice slow morning at home we went to Beirut by Bike downtown. While the girls rode bikes, I wandered over to this place with my camera:

Huh, I thought, because I hadn't been here before and didn't know anything about the place. Since I was with my kids on bikes I couldn't exactly investigate further.

But one thing I knew for sure: cool typography for the sign.

Once we were back home I went to the web where I found the following information about the Beirut Exhibition Center:

1. The artist who designed the typography for the sign is named Mary Choueiter. I like her website, which has many more pictures of the sign at the Exhibition center, but (and this was a real treat) she also has a photo up of another project that filled me with envy such as I have not felt in a very long time.

2. The Exhibition Center has a website, but it's a work in progress.

3. Arch-Times did an article on it complete with great photos and even an image of the architect's model.

Ah, Christmas and modern architecture--two of my favorite things.

Beirut Art Center

When you live in a place like Beirut, reading international news can feel surreal especially when your city is the subject. It can also feel really redundant. Take this NYT food-blog article about new restaurants in Beirut. I've seen this same outline a hundred times: civil war, Paris of the middle east, opportunities, risks, live for today!

Although I find these reports tiresome and formulaic, occasionally I learn something new.

NYT, again, but this time with a schedule of what to do if you have 36 hours in Beirut. #6 on their list was the Beirut Art Center. They're located along this graffiti-enlivened alleyway. Their facility is visible from the Emile Lahoud highway, and I'd seen it while driving past. But I was in a hurry and forgot to follow up. NYT jogged my memory. Cool, I thought, contemporary art in Beirut. I called and made an appointment for a tour--a tour for kids. I invited a friend and her kids to join us.

The tour was very good. Our guide did a great job of interacting with the kids and helping them understand what they could of the art on display. Every piece was political, about war, negotiation, and all the shades of gray in between. I'm very glad we went and I'm sure we'll go again. If you're interested in going, visit their website. They have great information, a map, and *grin* it's free.

Exhibit #14

We recently went to the National Museum, where they have a wonderful collection of artifacts that date back to prehistoric times.

I enjoyed being there, and thanks to Matthew, I got more out of our visit than I have before. But I confess, the shadows completely distracted me.