Beiteddine Palace

After our short visit to Deir Al-Qamar, we headed to Beiteddine (well, we stopped at a famous Lebanese poilticians house inbetween, but after waiting for a bit we found out that he had no time to meet with us...and I wasn't even allowed to take my camera inside so I'm deeming that part of our day unblogworthy.  Yes, that's a word).  The highlight of Beiteddine is the palace, which was absolutely stunning.  I could have spent all day wandering the courtyards and gardens, but we made quick work of the two-thirds we were allowed to see because someone is living in the private quarters this summer.

My favorite part about visiting historical sites is wandering around to get a feel for what it would be like for the people who lived there, so I tend to wander off on my own in search of places without too many people and beyond the booming voices of tour groups.  Consquently, I miss some of what the tour guide says, and can't recite too many interesting facts about the palace.  I do have one fact though: when the tour guide pointed out rooms that the prince used for 'secret meetings' that had waterfalls outside so people couldn't overhear what was being said inside I don't think anything was actually being said inside if you know what I mean.  But I digress.

The palace was stunning, my favorite picture of the day:

The palace wasn't easy to photograph, and much of it is being preserved in its slightly worn down condition, but it is still well worth seeing.  A well preserved ceiling in the Prince's public meeting room:

A picture of a Greek vase from the museum (which housed far more modern weaponry than I expected for a nineteenth century palace):

The bay windows built so that the woman of the royal family could look out onto the courtyard without being seen themselves:

Architectural details...

The ceiling in the hammam:

An arch seen from the main courtyard:

Looking down the corridor next to the center courtyard:

The palace is used as a concert venue during the summer, it has a larger stage outside and a smaller one in the central courtyard.  Here you can see the banners commerating 25 years of the Beiteddine Festival:

A lot of big, big names have played there.  However, there is one concert that I would choose above all the others: