Corniche el Manara is the sea promenade of western Beirut, running by the lighthouse neighbourhood with the Mediterranean on one side and cafés, sports clubs and apartment blocks on the other. People walk, run and fish here every evening, and the path connects naturally toward Raoucheh and the Pigeon Rocks. It is a historic urban landscape in the social sense: the city’s main public room since the corniche was laid out, even where the buildings are modern. Sunset is the hour. There is no ticket and no fence. For a first feel of Beirut as a sea city, the Manara corniche is more honest than any viewpoint terrace.
