The most beautiful natural sites to discover Beirut

On foot or by car, you'll soon realize that to get to Raouché, it's uphill! But the result is well worth the effort... This district has acquired its reputation thanks to the vicinity of the famous Pigeon Cave, islands of limestone shaped by erosion. This rock, which appears on the majority of tourist photos of Beirut, rises to 46 m in height. Local legend has it that Raouché's ratchet is the sea monster that chased Andromeda, transformed into stone by Perseus thanks to the head of Medusa. It is one of the main natural attractions of the city. A natural staircase on the rock leads to the top.

From the ledge, there is a remarkable view of the site.

Below the Pigeon Cave, it is possible to go down to the seafront and get a beautiful view of the site. You can also see a small port that still has a few fishermen. This port was affected by an oil spill following the July 2006 war and the bombing of the Jiyé power station. To the south of the pigeon cave is the cape of El Delie, one of the few areas of the Corniche that has escaped urbanisation. Much appreciated by the Beirut people who come to swim there, El Delie is today threatened by real estate projects; a citizen's collective has been set up to save it.

A few meters after the Pigeon Cave, the Shams building, with its multicolored facade, symbolizes the Raouché of the 1950s. It was designed by the architect Joseph Philippe Karam.

Behind the racecourse and the National Museum, surrounded by a large wall, stands the pine forest, planted by Amir Fakhreddine. The "dream pine forest", described by Lamartine during his trip to the East, is now trying to survive as best it can in the midst of dust and pollution. A joint programme led by the Ile-de-France region and the city of Beirut made it possible to redevelop it in 1995. Long reserved for Westerners and people with a permit, the pine forest is at the heart of a legal imbroglio as only Lebanon is capable of creating. After a struggle of several years, a group of inhabitants had succeeded in opening the park to all in 2016. The end of an absurd discrimination, but above all an important victory for the health of Beirut's inhabitants: the number of green spaces in Beirut is limited to a ratio of 0.8 square meters per inhabitant (when the WHO recommends 9...). And then in 2017, the municipality decides to close the pine wood again: a parasite would attack the trees and the authorities fear a contagion. If the epidemic was real, this decision could have hidden real estate embezzlement: building permits were given in protected areas of the park. This rekindled the anger of the inhabitants, who regularly organized sit-ins and demonstrations to safeguard the green lung of the Lebanese capital. The trees have since been treated, and the park is finally open to the public. Perfect for a stroll in the footsteps of Lamartine.

Further along the Corniche, after passing the Movempick Hotel, you can see in the distance the only real public beach in Beirut. This sandy beach is 1 km long. Although the beach is relatively well maintained and there is little plastic waste, swimming is not recommended. Ramlet el-Baida remains therefore a pleasant and friendly place where families come in large numbers to stroll. At the end of the afternoon, the young people of the district start playing football or volleyball.

In the direction of Manara, the cornice runs along the campus of the American University of Beirut, then the International College School, before arriving at the Riviera Hotel. After the Manara area with its new lighthouse, the cornice is less attractive. One follows the private beaches of the Military Bath, Long Beach and Sporting. Created in the 1930s and 1950s, these addresses are very well known, but also old. Not very welcoming, old-fashioned and with rudimentary service, some of them deserve a facelift! Founded in 1955, Le Sporting is very vintage. Manara has one of the most picturesque cafés in the city, Café Raouda. The new lighthouse adjoining the Military Bath beach has replaced the old lighthouse that can be seen between two buildings on the hill overlooking the area.

In order to guide the increasing number of boats coming to Beirut, Daoud Pasha (the first mustassarif appointed in Lebanon during the Ottoman occupation) had decided, in 1863, to entrust the construction of the lighthouse to French engineers. This old lighthouse was extinguished from 1977 to 1994, then the construction of a building below it in the early 2000s was fatal to it. Unable to light it properly, it was closed and a new lighthouse was built. At the foot of this lighthouse, one can admire the "pink house", a splendid Lebanese house. Built in 1882, it dominates the area of Ras Beirut. Although classified, the house occupies a remarkable site that attracts the attention of real estate developers.