Beirut: The 160-year-old palace of Beirut has suffered two world wars, seen the sunset over the Osmania Empire, captured by France, and then witnessed the independence of Lebanon. After independence, after the bloody civil war of 1975–1990, its old glory was restored with a struggle of 20 years, but it was destroyed in the terrible explosion in Beirut.
“In a moment everything was devastated again,” says Roderick Sursok, owner of this historic Sursok palace, one of the highest-floor buildings in Beirut. Sursok walks cautiously amidst painting of ancestors hanging on the collapsed roofs of the palace, dust-filled rooms, broken floors, and cracked walls. He says that the roof of the upper floor of the building has been completely broken, some walls have also fallen.
He said that the palace suffered 10 times more damage than it had suffered in the 15 years of civil war, due to the terrible explosion in Beirut last week. This palace was built in 1860 and was decorated with Osmania era furniture, marbled and the finest paintings of Italy. Actually the family associated with this building belongs to the Greek Orthodox family. The family originally belonged to Kustuntuniya, ie Istanbul, the capital of the Baijantia Empire, which settled in Beirut in 1714.
Sursok said that this palace has been damaged so much that it will cost a lot to rebuild and will take a lot of time to build. Sursok said that at the moment there is no justification for repairing this house and there is absolutely no till the country resolves its political problems.
