PRIVATE BEACHES OF MANARA

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.