Sursock Museum reopens after repairs following Beirut Port blast
Explosion, 800 meters away from building, resulted in collapse of its wooden ceiling and cracks in walls
The Sursock Museum reopened on Friday nearly three years after the devastating Beirut Port explosion of Aug. 4, 2020, which damaged the museum’s artistic treasures and its vibrant glass facade. The explosion — just 800 meters away from the museum — resulted in the collapse of the building’s wooden ceiling and cracks in its walls.
Sursock’s restoration was marked by a celebration on Friday evening, funded by the international alliance for heritage protection in conflict zones (Aliph), the
Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, the French Ministry of Culture, UNESCO, and several Lebanese and Arab institutions. French Ambassador Anne Grillo and Italian Ambassador Nicola Bongiorni attended the event amid heavy security.
Dozens of people gathered in the museum’s exterior courtyard, where members of the Saint Joseph University Choir gave a live performance.
Ambassador Grillo said: “France has fulfilled its promise after the tragedy. We announced our contribution to the museum’s reconstruction because we uphold diversity and freedom in this region.” The reconstruction work was carried out without help from the Lebanese government, but over $2 million were raised, with Italy contributing $965,000 through UNESCO’s For Beirut initiative. The French Ministry of Culture and Aliph donated half a million dollars each. The losses incurred by the museum were estimated at around $3 million.
The museum was built in 1912 on a hill in Ashrafieh overlooking the capital, as the private villa for renowned Lebanese art collector Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock.