After all the rumors (that proved to be wrong later) about the possibility of a bank replacing Ahwet El Ezez in Gemmayze, it turned out it’s actually a 4th branch for Leila that will be replacing the old cafe.
Leila already has 3 branches in ABC Achrafieh, ABC Dbayeh, and Verdun. This new branch will be called “Ahwet Leila” to probably maintain the feel of its predecessor…
2010 is parting in a few days and it seems like it is taking away one of Gemmayze’s landmarks with it!
According to this article from The Daily Star, Ahwet El Ezez will soon shut its doors after losing a legal battle with the building owners regarding the continuation of pre-civil war rents.
The premises will now return to the building owners, who have been embroiled in legal disputes with the café for years over the continuation of pre-Civil War rents.
What will become of it now remains unknown. Building owners have assured conservationists that the site will not be demolished but speculation is rife over what will become of one of central Beirut’s last traditional cafés, with rumors circulating it will be turned into a new snazzy bar, maybe even a Starbucks or a bank branch.
Do you think it is time for us to finally accept that those small pieces of Beirut’s heritage are not meant to last forever or at least survive the real estate boom in the city?
This definitely doesn’t replace our favorite Lebanese cuisine blogs, but it’s cool to see our traditional recipes available on an iPhone application!
Use this app and bring the delicious taste and richness of the Lebanese cuisine to your home – enjoy 100 of the finest Lebanese recipes and experience the flavor of the Orient. The huge variety of dishes includes among others traditional salads, starters, meat, chicken, fish and vegetarian dishes as well as famous desserts. It will allow you to prepare typical Lebanese menus and surprise your family and friends. All recipes are decorated with high quality pictures to give you an upfront idea of what you are about to cook.
You can find more info about the application here.
Via Beirut Spring
“Beirut survived the war, but it’s not going to survive peace. What survived two decades of war, we are destroying now, in the name of modernity,” Mr Kodieh says.
Across Beirut, hundreds of high-rise buildings have replaced old buildings. The city’s architectural heritage is being wiped out because there is no legislation to protect it.
“What’s happening is very sad, but it’s not in our power to stop it,” says Rasheed Jalekh, representative of the Beirut municipality.
Via BBC News
Destroying the architectural heritage is indeed ugly, but is Beirut really turning into an ugly city?
I saw this caricature by Armand Homsi in Annahar Newpaper on Sunday April 18th.
Illustrating what is happening in Beirut and various areas of Lebanon, this caricature is worth a thousand words. We don’t need skyscrapers with apartments that we cannot afford, just keep our beautiful Beirut as it is!
While walking in Hamra, the graffiti and what people post on the walls can’t but grab your attention! I took the photos below in a less than a 15 minutes walk there.
I think this one is drawn by this blogger.
Yep, Palestine is that way!
No idea why these ones were posted…
She was my best friend when I was a kid! It turned out she made a comeback in December 2009.
Lebanon, the land of Lebsians!
Gives a new meaning to being preganant…
As if something is going to change… Anyway you can check their website here.
I saw this one on the wall of Walimat Warde’s old location (the new location is few meters away)
… still someone is missing Warde, or probably the coziness of the old location.
… unfortunately Walimat Warde’s old building is going to be destroyed and a new building will replace it.
Another old building being demolished in Hamra’s main street.
Two days ago I went to the newly opened Beirut Souks, Beirut’s new largest shopping area, which was rebuilt by Solidere according to the original grid plan and location of the old souks that were destructed during the civil war while maintaining the landmarks and street names.
To my disappointment, the new Beirut Souks look nothing similar to the image I have in my mind for the old Beirut, and I’m pretty sure the new image defies the memories that old people who knew the old souks have in their mind.
Souk El Tawileh (via yabeyrouth.com)
In my opinion Solidere did a horrible job at preserving our heritage there as the new souks no longer reflect the real identity of Beirut, in fact the new souks have no identity at all! Nothing inside that big mall makes you feel like you’re in Beirut except for the “decorative” street plates of course. Be the judge yourself by looking at the photos I took below, it can be Dubai, Paris, or whatever other city!
Add to that the fact that the old souks were a destination to almost all society classes prior to the civil, while right now Beirut Souks is another destination for the snobbish people in Lebanon, I really cannot imagine a low income individual being able to spend a day there. Once again, Solidere probably had the Arab tourists in mind when they designed this place! Just like what they did when they were rebuilding the other parts of the central district.
To me, the Hamra street is a much more authentic Beiruti street than the new Souks of Beirut, though it is full of new restaurants and outlet stores but it has at least maintained its spirit throughout the years.
At the end, I will leave you with this comparative video between the old souks of Beirut and the new ones.
I admit I’m very late on posting this! Il 2ossa w ma fiya, someone is planning to build a cafe on our natural bridge of Kfardebian, which will result in “ruining” this naturally made landmark. What we can do is to show the media that we oppose this project and want to preserve that landmark by gathering tomorrow 9:00AM at the natural bridge.
Below is more details from Blogging Beirut about the schedule.
Our Natural Bridge of Kfardebian-Faqra is in extreme danger. The danger is that of urbanization, of a human kind.
The owner of the land close to the bridge has decided to build an amphitheater and cafe starting from the very edge of the bridge!
LAW 434 – Lists Lebanon’s Natural bridge of Kfardebiene-Faqra as the 8th great natural site and wealth of the Republic of Lebanon.
The law also states that this site is protected under a radius of 100m from any type of building or land adjustment. The center of the radius stems from the center of the bridge.
The law also states that for an additional 50 m, no building or activity of any type can take place, that will harm the identity and character of the site.
The land owner already built 9 steps and a concrete wall several meters wide within the first protected radius and has illegally bought the road that connects the main road to the bridge from the municipality of Kfardebien.
On August 8th 2009, a rally to voice our concerns to the media and protect our heritage from destruction.
We will conduct a hike from the Roman Ruins of Kfardebiene-Faqra to the Natural Bridge starting at 9am.
Join us at the ruins at 9am and hike with us to the bridge.
At 10:30 AM the media will cover our event with a press release to help communicate to the Lebanese public the dangers of these circumstances.
We will afterward s enjoy a picnic at the site and listen to a great Musician playing the Oud.
Please help support and protect our national heritage.
Contact Info:
E-mail: savethebridge [at) bloggingbeirut (dot] com
