The Venue
Then & Now
Welcome to the Citadel at Beit Chabab. This site was recognized for its strategic location since the Phoenician days. It is protected from the vagaries of weather, overlooks the valley and has a source of water. Many findings of pottery and arrowheads and bones of domesticated farm animals suggest that the site was occupied by contemporaries of Phoenicians. No Greek artifacts were found here and it seems that the area was not important to them. The Romans however seem to be the first to have built defensive fortifications here. The location stands astride and above the old road from Beirut to Zahle in an excellent defensive position. The Romans were the first to station a small contingent here to warn of attacks on Beirut as well as to protect this important trade rout. It seems that after a couple of centuries the Roman contingent became local and during Byzantine days their descendants used the location as a mule train stopover. The location was taken over by Baron Raymond after the crusaders were expelled from Jerusalem. They built a small chapel (Capella de San Francesco) and as was the habit, planted a tree that represents the region of the original crusader that led the order. This group was from Spain and the tree they planted was the cork oak. The location remained a small Christian bastion until the Ottomans took it over and improved the battlements in the mid sixteenth century. The area reverted to Christian control in the late 1700s but with no military importance. In early 1800s the old fortress was converted to a silk factory and the chapel went into disrepair. After the First World War, the location became a printing press for a few years and then was abandoned. It was used as an outlook station during the Second World War with no real strategic importance. However, since the crusader days, the owners or managers of the land were always priests, children of priests and so they remained until the 1960s. The last owner only had daughters and passed away at a young age. His widow sold the remnants of the old fortress and chapel in the early 1970s in order to pay for the schooling of her daughters. The fortress was used as a factory and printing press and the old chapel was used as a power station. The business did not survive the civil war intact but the buildings remained. They were recently restored to what we believe the original structure looked like. Taking inspiration from similar fortresses in the region and studying the remains of what was on site, we restored the monument so that it has a large hall that would have been used as living quarters for soldiers and converted what would have been the residence of the captain into a bridal suite and an office. The armory which historically would be below the captain’s residence and connected to the main hall was converted into a kitchen area and the secret entrance and escape cave was tidied up and cleaned and opened up for use. The outside yard was widened a bit and a fence similar to what was fashionable during the latter half of the ottoman age was commissioned. Colors and shapes were all restored to what would have been present at that time. Also, keeping in mind that this was a fortress and not a palace, extra care and cost was spent trying to keep everything authentic, from ceilings to thick stone walls. The only modern part of this old citadel is the lavatories which are a relatively new technology anyway. We hope that the history present in every stone and plant in this venue will make your event more memorable. Your presence will add to our history and to our memories.