11 August,2020 08:43 AM IST | Beirut | Agencies
A crooked painting hangs on the wall of the Sursock Palace, heavily damaged after the explosion in the seaport of Beirut. Pic/AP
The 160-year-old palace withstood two world wars, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the French mandate and Lebanese independence. After the country's 1975-1990 civil war, it took 20 years of careful restoration for the family to bring the palace back to its former glory. "In a split second, everything was destroyed again," says Roderick Sursock, owner of Sursock Palace.
He steps carefully over the collapsed ceilings, walking through rooms covered in dust, broken marble and crooked portraits of his ancestors hanging on the cracked walls. The ceilings of the top floor are all gone, and some of the walls have collapsed. The level of destruction from the August 4 explosion at Beirut's port is 10 times worse than what 15 years of civil war did, he says.
The three-story mansion, built in 1860 in the heart of historical Beirut on a hill overlooking the now-obliterated port, is home to beautiful works of arts, Ottoman-era furniture, marble and paintings from Italy - collected by three long-lasting generations of the Sursock family.
ALSO READ
Video shows NY officer fatally shooting 13-year-old
Mid-Day Top News: Maharashtra assembly polls likely only after Diwali and more
Congress: Centre insensitive to statehood restoration demand, will be poll issue
Yunus accuses Sheikh Hasina of destroying Bangladesh's institutions
Harris scared to do an interview on her own: Donald Trump's election campaign
Lebanon Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm on Monday became the third Cabinet minister to resign over the blast in Beirut. Meanwhile, a Lebanese judge began questioning the heads of the country's security agencies in connection with the blast.
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.
Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
