STAR PLACE

Originally, French town planners had planned a square with seven branches. Only five were pierced, the other two demanded the destruction of the two cathedrals, which was never accepted. The one on the left is the St. Elias Cathedral of the Greek Catholics, built in 1849 in the Byzantine style, renovated in 2006 and opened to the public in 2010. The one on the right is St. George's Cathedral of the Greek Orthodox, which was built on the ruins of five superimposed churches. Built in 1767, it is considered the oldest Greek Orthodox church in Beirut. During the Civil War, the cathedral was badly damaged. During its renovation starting in 1995, archaeological excavations revealed the remains of three superimposed churches, the oldest of which had been destroyed by an earthquake in 551 AD.

The Place de l'Etoile is dominated by a clock. It was donated to the municipality by a Lebanese of the Abed family who had made his fortune in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century.

Before the closure of the city centre, the square was a popular meeting place for families. Today, the area is a little deserted, except for school hours: being one of the few exclusively pedestrian areas of the capital, children can come and play there in complete safety. To the delight of parents, who can smoke the hookah in one of the cafés still open in the Place de l'étoile.