A few months back, I was on the hunt for the best and most comprehensive photo archive of old Beirut available. Unfortunately, I found no such thing. I now realize this was incredibly stupid of me, because such a website does exist with well over 450 photos already submitted, captioned and archived from many sources and over different epochs in the life of the Beirut we’ve already lost or are losing day after day in a very neat and streamlined layout.
Take a look at a few photos I grabbed off the first few pages below. The rest can be found here. Enjoy the bitter-sweet, wow-effect these photos will give you. Makes you wish we were alive in the Beirut of the 50s-60s, the “Golden Age” of our beloved, or at least once-beloved city.
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- That’s in the 1930s. Today, it’s Zaitounay Bay
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- I wish we still had these! Beirut in 1950
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- USJ 1895
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- Riad el Solh Square 1969
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- AUBMC in 1969
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- The Horsh that’s off-limits to us now, in 1950
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- Gemmayzeh in 1925
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- We had those in our school =P 1950s
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- That was LAU Beirut in 1946
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- The old Beirut airport… Horrible memories in it. 1950s
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- AUB Assembly Hall 1890s
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- Ashrafieh looked habitable in 1910
Amazing photos of Beirut!!! The old Beirut was very beautiful , even though there are still many gorgeous places nowadays, such as the Downtown… But, it’s becoming more and more modern, Lebanon has now an iPhone application called People of Leb with millions of Lebanese Profiles. I like it when Lebanese follow up with the technology and used not only for fun but also for useful purposes, this is the app’s link on app store http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/people-of-leb/id563519565?Is=1&mt=8