Update: the site MAY be saved.
Downtown Beirut: the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to archeology. After a blogger (link) and Daily Star journalists were assaulted for taking pictures at the District S site, it turned out a nearby site, where the Roman gate and road were discovered, was more important than originally perceived.
Our ministry of culture Gaby Layoun has no problem in allowing the demolitions at the site in question to continue. But new evidence is now surfacing according to this source that the site in question may contain Lebanon’s first and oldest Church. And yes, that possible Church is part of the things that are going to be destroyed as well.
Source: The Beirut Report
What will replace the Roman gate and road as well as the potential Church? A five star hotel and mall. Because that’s precisely what Downtown Beirut is so desperately lacking. After all, why would any tourist in their right mind want to see anything in Beirut that doesn’t revolve around the Zaitunay Bays and the Solidere edition of Downtown Beirut?
Gaby Layoun is well on his way to be Lebanon’s prime minister of culture to allow the most transgressions against Lebanon’s culture. From the Roman hippodrome, the Phoenician port, Amin Maalouf’s house and the constant destruction of Achrafieh to the current site at hand. Of course, all of the aforementioned entities are not things that can be milked electorally for them to be anything substantial for Layoun and his friends. Roman hippodrome and Christian rights sure doesn’t sound catchy enough.
We, as Lebanese, have apparently no right to at least have the parts of our history that are discovered be fully studied and documented because it will ruin the plans of multi-billionaires who are paying our government in droves to turn a blind eye to every single transgression taking place.
It’s not only about stone, mosaics and ancient significance. It’s about this monumental carelessness and barbarism with which authorities handle every single situation in this country, including ruins and culture and houses and highways. And quite honestly, I’ve come to expect nothing less of people who probably find the pillars of Baalbek are enough for this tiny country.
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares 
As soon as I read the title, I immediately knew they’re going to demolish it to put a mall in its place. I swear, people in this country only care about finding ways to make money. And since religion cannot allow all of them to do so, they seek other more profiting ways. Upsetting.
I wouldn’t be so surprised if another prime minister of culture came after him in like a decade and decided the pillars of Baalbak are no longer needed.
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How is this man still in office?
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Omg!!!! This must be Knesset el nouniye! Omg…if they destroy thus its over!:(:(
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That’s becos Michel Aoun and Layoun are bribed to do that, and nobody cares> Murderers.
we have to ask our President does he approve?
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YOU ARE ACCUSING THE VERY WRONG PERSONS
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what an idiot Maroun… really this is bullshit and the writer of this article should have been a bit more unbiased when it comes to politics because this isnt abt politics at all but about our heritage and culture and now it happens that the only people among politicians whether you like them or don’t and I don’t are working with plans have become the enemies of culture and heritage and you take advantage of such an article & such an issue to take revenge of them… Be more creative… if you care about this issue propose a solution don’t say stupid comments like the above.. Thanks
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But El Deeb, you just ranted and did not provide solutions yourself… Have you noticed, or you just write impulsively according to how you feel or for the sake of writing?
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Oups, actually that was my response to Maroun as well.. sorry El Deeb!
Maroun is a chicken head who follows what his parents say, he just needs some sort of che guevara because he cannot imagine himself without a leader, so he rants about a sectarian leader who was involved in our civil war, and that is perhaps because he likes his opponent, who was also involved in civil war… how creative and out of the box you are! Please go read a book before accusing the wrong people..
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http://www.elnashra.com/news/show/619498/
maroun this is especially for u.
everyone knows who stole downtown beirut, destroyed its whole culture and made solidere,
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Do you still believe in people who destroyed our country.. hey guys!! Wake up!! You don’t have electicity, no water, no internet!! They are all guilty and you have to judge them. It is not only general Aoun, but all of them.
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Reblogged this on Ned Hamson Second Line View of the News and commented:
Money, money, money before spirit, history, culture, people!
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LETS SAVE LEBANON AND ITS UNIQUE HISTORY !!! FROM SOME MERCANTILE & GREEDY UNFAITHFUL LEBANESE !!! YA ASAFAH !!!! IF THE STATE WILL NOT PRESERVE ITS OWN HERITAGE, WHILE OTHER COUNTRIES ARE BUYING IN GOLD , HISTORICAL SITES NOT THEIRS !!!!
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THE MAIN RESPONSIBLE IS THE ONE IN CHARGE TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE< WHICH IS LAYOUN FROM THE MINISTRY AND ASSAD SEIF FROM THE DGA…. BUT IN THIS (LANDMARK) WE WILL STOP THEM…. AS FOR DISTRICT S I ADVISE ALL TO READ PROPERLY THE ARTICLE IN ANNAHAR, THE ANSWER IS WITHIN… PURE AND SIMPLE COMEDY… BUT WHAT A SHAME FOR THE JOURNALIST WHO WROTE THE ARTICLE, DIDN"T SHE NOTICE THAT, ESPECIALLY THAT SHE IS ALMOST A PROFESSIONAL HERSELF… THIS IS CALLED IN A WAY BRIBERY, BUT HERE ALSO THEY WILL NOT SUCCEED TO LIE TO THE PEOPLE, IMAGINE THAT WHAT WAS TALKED ABOUT IN THIS FULL PAGE CONCERNS JUST AROUND 200 STONES ???
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Being away from home for 35 years gives me little to say about matters here, but this is utterly disapointing and sickening. Back in the 1960’s and up to the unfortnate time of 1974 that changed life for ever, there was a law in Lebanon that stopped construction once historical ruins were discovered at a construction site. I doubt this law was erradicated. As a youngster growing up in Beirut I remember the incidents and going with my family to see the ruins being unearthed and it was a facinating experience. During the decade of 1990s while excavating for the Metro in Athens hundreds of ruins where constantly uneatrthed and the Greek authorities devised a method to incorporate sites and artifacts of significance as part of the now impressive and modern Metro System. Imagine how much more attractive and valuable a Hotel/Mall project would be if it incorporated a historical excavation of this magnitude as part of it’s architectual complexity. I can definetly take into consideration the greed and loss a developer has to face here, but I am sure there are methods to build above and around this. Imagine the global value of a mall or resort center who’s basement was a discovery of this magnitude. I think in the scale of things this is better than hitting the power ball.
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Why are we still silent??? we allow these people to govern us and play with our future… God help us.
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Because we are sheep, we follow sectarian leaders.. Say Muslim and they all start barking with the leader, they forget everything. Say Christian and they start shouting like zombies.. I wish someone would read a book…
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OMG!!! this is unbelievable… How they can do this? how they can even thing about it? it’s a shame
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Thanks for reposting. I hope mainstream Lebanese media will take interest. Much more to discuss at this site as well.
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So what can we do now? Did you know that more than 4 manifestations were organized to protect the Phoenician port and the maximum number of participants were 40 persons!!! 40 PERSONSSS….
The Lebanese people are not aware of the gravity of what’s done… OUR CHILDREN WON’T FORGIVE US THIS NEGLIGENCE ….
WE HAVE TO STOP THESE CRIMES… NOW NOW NOW… But nobody cares….
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who care about a bunch of rocks? commercial properties and malls generate money and give room for new jobs. All beirut is build over old settlements so what? we keep it as rocks?
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Ace, you don´t care about your history? Lebanon is such a big historical country, 2 stones, 200 stones or 20.000 stones. It doesn´t matter. It´s in this region where things happened. Yes, happenED because now nobody cares about values, only money counts. Opposite my house, my home, just this morning about 10 pine trees were cut. The last ones in our street. For what? A new house, more money. Who is working for the construction? Don´t think that Lebanese do the dirty work!!! And who is gonna live there?
Anyway, do we really need another mall, another hotel? Indeed! What we need are innovations. Use your brains to build up something real instead of illusions.
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Pingback: Ministry of Culture To Buy Land & Save Lebanon’s Oldest Church in Downtown Beirut? | A Separate State of Mind | A Lebanese Blog
I dare any mother fucker to touch that ground if it was an old mosque. And your understanding is enough. And Ace stay out of our culture. You probably live in dubai or the west somewhere anyway.
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Regligious idiots!!!
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Totally unacceptable. Being a church makes it a more sacred cause, worth protesting and fighting for. This is the true beauty of lebanon, the historical value of the culture that lies within those rocks. How dare they?
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don’t be sad on a stones on earth cos the real church is you people so don’t care about stones cos we all going to haven and the real church in haven no one can reach it only how believe in god and know how to love and give freely ,so don’t care about those how are destroying stones pray for people there heart are stones,we need to value hungry people, and those how need our help this is god will.
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Today Layoun Stopped the construction and the ministry decided to take the possession of the land. Rte7o!!
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Dear friends, I knew about this siteon friday whete lebanondebate mentioned it and also mentiened that Layoun called the investor, the contractor and the architect and order them to stop all activities on the site as it is confiscated by the ministry and they will arrange a way to indemnify tge group ir by offering another site or by paying them the calculated value.
And for your info, it is Solidere who should be blamed for not doing any geological study on the plot or maybe like we say in lebanese “dereh we ma dereh ? Dereh we tanash:
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And why we are surprised? It’s like every other thing in lebanon bullshit never end:(
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