Beirut explosion destroys landmark 19th century Sursock Palace
The destruction from the blast at Beirut’s port is 10 times worse than what 15 years of civil war did, owner Roderick Sursock told the AP.
By ALEX WINSTONSursock Palace in Achrafieh, Beirut(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/EDEYRN87)
Beirut continues to recover from the Beirut Port explosion that shook the city last Tuesday and killed 163, injured thousands and left large swathes of the Lebanese capital in ruins.It has been estimated that the damage caused will cost tens of billions of dollars and take years to repair. One such building that will need a complete renovation is the historic landmark Sursock Palace, reports the Associated Press (AP).Sursock Palace, which sits opposite the famous Sursock Museum, is a grand residence located on Rue Sursock in the Achrafieh district of Beirut.The palace was built in 1860 by Moïse Sursock, a Greek Orthodox Christian from Constantinople, and has been passed down through several generations of the Sursock family. The 160-year-old palace has seen much in its time, including the fall of the Ottoman Empire, two World Wars, French colonization and the Lebanese Civil War of 1975-1990.The destruction from the blast at Beirut’s port is 10 times worse than what 15 years of civil war did, owner Roderick Sursock told the AP.“In a split second, everything was destroyed again,” Irish-born Sursock said.Sursock had only recently finished a 20-year restoration of the landmark building from damage suffered in Lebanon's civil war when the blast struck.Damaged windows are seen at Sursock Museum, opposite Sursock Palace, following last Tuesday's blast, in Beirut (Credit: REUTERS/Aziz Taher) Several works of arts including paintings from Italy and Ottoman-era furniture are among the items destroyed in the popular tourist destination, but Sursock told the AP that there is no point in restoring the house yet again until Lebanon finds a solution to the current political crisis.“We need a total change, the country is run by a gang of corrupt people,” he said angrily.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced his government's resignation on Monday, saying the explosion, and the public outrage it has caused, was the result of endemic corruption.Anti-government protests in the past two days have been the biggest since October, when angry demonstrations spread over an economic crisis rooted in pervasive graft, mismanagement and high-level accountability.“I hope there is going to be violence and revolution because something needs to break, we need to move on, we cannot stay as we are,” the AP quoted Sursock as saying.
