EAST BUILDING

At the Ajami esplanade, one is struck by the L'Orient building (named after the French-language daily L'Orient le Jour, which has since moved to the south of Beirut), which keeps hundreds of bullet holes. Built in the 1920s, it has been abandoned since 1975. It was located in the heart of the old souks that were looted during the civil war. Today, it stands there, with its superb yellow facade still bearing the scars of the conflict. It faces the new modern souks. Exhibitions are sometimes organized there.