BEIT BEIRUT (MUSEUM AND URBAN CULTURAL CENTRE)

Once in the Sodeco district, you can't miss the Barakat building named after its former owners, at the intersection of Damascus and Independence Streets. Built in 1924 by the Lebanese architect Youssef Afandi Aftimos, the Lebanese master of the neo-Moorish style, who also designed the façade of the Beirut municipality. The original building was then raised in 1932 by the architect Fouad Kozah by two additional floors. The building, also known as the "Yellow House" because of the ochre sandstone used for its construction, bears witness to the violent fighting that hit the capital during the civil war. Located on the former demarcation line between the east and west of Beirut (the famous "Green Line"), it was a forward checkpoint and a den of snipers during the civil war. Long abandoned and threatened with destruction, the building was expropriated in 2003 for the benefit of the municipality of Beirut on grounds of public utility. It then underwent major renovation work, led by the Lebanese architect Youssef Haidar. As in Beirut, everything takes time, the cultural centre is not yet open and the Yellow House is still under construction, although events are occasionally organized in Beit Beirut. However, its yellow facade riddled with bullet holes and shrapnel is well worth the detour and well worth a walk.