Al Hamadeh Palace in Baaqline dates from 1592 and is tied in local history to the birth of Prince Fakhreddine, the emir who expanded the Mount Lebanon emirate. The palace is a rare domestic monument from the late Maan period, set in the town that was an early seat of Druze and mountain politics before Deir el Qamar and Beiteddine took the leading role. Stone rooms, a formal entrance and the surrounding old quarter explain the scale of a sixteenth-century notable house. Pair it with Baaqline’s old serail, the historic presses and the road to the Shouf cedars. Travellers comparing feudal palaces in Lebanon should put Hamadeh on the same list as Moukhtara and Beiteddine, but expect a quieter visit.
