Salameh unveils new plan to restore crumbling
Beaufort Castle
Cost of project will be over $2 million Nayla Assaf
Daily Star staff
Beaufort Castle, one of Lebanon’s most famous
archaeological landmarks but left to decay after years of occupation, will be restored to
its pre-war glory, Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh promised Thursday.
During a conference for MPs and municipal council members from the Nabatieh region,
Salameh announced the completion of plans by the Directorate General of Antiquities for
the castle’s restoration.
The fortress, completed in the 13th century by the Crusaders, overlooks the village of
Arnoun on its western side. Its eastern section overlooks a steep, 1,000-meter drop into a
valley with the Litani River below.
This magnificent site, however, has suffered from neglect since the liberation of May
2000. A few entrepreneurs have set up restaurants nearby, in the hope that the site will
attract a steady stream of tourists.
During the occupation, the castle became a symbol of Lebanese resistance and consequently
greatly suffered from shelling and occupation.
“The study contains thorough reports on each stone and each wall and plans for
renovation in seven stages,” Salameh said during the news conference.
He presented a copy of the plans to Nabatieh MPs Abdel-Latif Zein and Yassin Jaber.
The project, whose preliminary maps were shown to the media on Thursday, proposes
restoring parts of the castle still standing, in addition to the dungeon and gates.
The restoration will resemble, as closely as possible, the original pre-war drawings and
will be delineated in order to distinguish from the original.
Plans include a circuit to guide visitors through a reception area, the castle itself and
trenches and bunkers left by the Israeli Army.
A state of the art lighting system will also be installed, in addition to a parking lot
which will be built at a distance from the medieval site, known as Shqeef in Arabic.
The estimated cost of the project is over $2 million, a sum which Salameh said he hopes to
secure from Arab and non-Arab countries “that promised to participate in the funding,
once the plans are complete.”He did not disclose the sources.
The DGA began preliminary studies on the castle a few months after the liberation of the
area in May 2000.
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