Beiteddine Palace is the great early-nineteenth-century residence of Emir Bashir Chehab II, built in Beit ed-Dine around an older Muslim-Druze hermitage. About forty-five kilometres southeast of Beirut and roughly nine hundred metres above the sea, it is the masterpiece of emirate architecture in Mount Lebanon: carved sandstone courtyards, reception halls, a hammam, private apartments and a collection of mosaics. After the emir’s exile the palace served later governors and is now the country’s best-preserved palace museum. The midan, arcades and upper gardens explain how the Chehab court staged power in the Chouf. Pair it with Old Deir el Qamar, Mir Amin Palace and Moussa Castle for a full day of historic places in the mountain.
