Lebanon: The Director General of UNESCO launches from Beirut projects to rehabilitate prominent cultural places

Ms. Azoulay said in a statement today, Friday, that her return to the Mediterranean city represents an important moment for her, hoping that these new initiatives will bear “Hope, to strike our roots deep in the past and to open the future prospects for us.”

The Director General laid the foundation stone for the project of restoring the St. Makhael train station, which was previously connected to three continents, and its area exceeds 10,000 square meters.

The UNESCO project and the United Nations Human Settlements Program will be implemented to become a cultural and vital site to serve the residents of the capital in 2027, with the support of Italy amounting to $ 3.5 million.

It also announced the project to restore the closed Grand Theater since 1990, which was damaged during the Beirut Port explosion in the context of a huge restoration project that will implement its first stages with funding of one million dollars from the United Arab Emirates.

UNESCO will also support the local cultural and creative industries sector by financing eight artistic and craftsmanship projects in Tire and Baalbek, two phenomenic cities included in the World Heritage List.

It is noteworthy that Mrs. Azoulay had launched the “Beirut” initiative in the wake of the port explosion in 2020, when the initiative mobilized more than 45 million US dollars to support the rebuilding of the capital.