18
WINTER 2020
SAVING THE SURSOCK PALACE
In a split second, it all went wrong. Still, the dark wrought iron gates on the tree-lined Sursock street open wide. For those who want to comprehend. For those who wish to mourn. It was the ultimate blow. The destruction of the Sursock Palace. The stately palace stood no chance. Its majestic open perch on an Ashrafieh hilltop gave the blast wave full permission to wreak havoc. Ironically, it was its verdant location that pushed Moussa Dimitri Sursock, a wealthy bourgeoisie merchant, to build his home among the fruit groves of Ashrafieh in the middle of the 19th century. Like many other wealthy Greek Orthodox families, he wanted to abandon Beirut’s city life and settle in the ‘countryside.’ It took seventeen years, but by 1870, Sursock Palace, with its spacious
