Design History Society

Between Myth and Reality: The 'Tuscan Influence' on the Architecture of Mount Lebanon in the
Emirate Period
Author(s): Elie Haddad
Source: Journal of Design History, Vol. 20, No. 2, Design and Polity Under and After the
Ottoman Empire (Summer, 2007), pp. 161-171
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of Design History Society
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Journalof Design HistoryVol. 20 No. 2

doi:10.1093/jdh/epm010

re:focus
design
Between

Influence'
Mount

and

Myth
on

Lebanon

Reality:

the

'Tuscan

Architecture of

the
in

the

Emirate

Period

Elie Haddad

Lebanese culture has been impregnated with the

notion that architecturaldevelopments during the
emiratefrom FakhreddineII to Bechir III were realized by Tuscanbuilderswho participatedin the cultural renaissanceof the area, and that by extension
these landmarksof the emiratewere indebtedto the
ItalianRenaissance.1This notion of Tuscaninfluence
on the architectureof Mount Lebanonin the seventeenth and eighteenth centuriesbeen acceptedwithout critical evaluation, owing to the scarcity of
documentsand the secondaryrole accordedarchitecturein the politicalformationof the nationalidentity.
The principalreferenceto which we can traceany of
theseideasis the work of FatherPaul Carali,authorof
a documentarystudyon the correspondencebetween
Emir FakhreddineII and the Medicis, collected from
the archivesof Florenceand Rome, and publishedin
Rome in 1936.2An earlierreferencecan be found in
the work of IssaIskandarMalouf,authorof a seriesof
articles on Fakhreddine II, which celebrated the
political and culturalachievementsof the Emir as a
cornerstonein the foundation of a modern state on
the Europeanmodel.3 We also find some references
to thisWesterninfluencein otherhistoriessuch asthe
seminalwork of theJesuitHenri Lammens,4the work
of Boulos Noujaim5and that of Michel Chebli.6
Historic documents do corroborate that Italian
expertswere invited to Mount Lebanonduringthat
period to assist in realizing various infrastructural
projectsas part of the Medici's political engagement
with their alliesin Mount Lebanon.7Popularimagination has, however, extended this into a 'Risorgimento' that translatesarchitecturallyand artistically
the ItalianRenaissanceon this side of the Mediterranean. References to this effect appearin the popular

literature,in additionto the 'nationalhistory'taught

in the schools, celebratingthe impressive achievements of the emirate.In one such essay, the author
evoked the splendourof the period in these terms:
The heavyedificesof thisfeudaltownspeakof a shorthistoricalparenthesis
whichwasopenedandswiftlyclosedin
mountain.Butthisopening
the chroniclesof the Lebanese
breeze of
was sufficientas it alloweda reinvigorating
a
smaller
at
of
Renaissance
scale,
Risorgimento, Italian
to blow on the ShoufMountains,conferringon them a
Tuscanparentage
anda Palladian
appearance.9
Although the same authornoted the Arabicinfluences that remain preponderantin the new style
(referred to as a hybrid of the Oriental and the
Renaissance)the text is rich in referencesto Tuscan
influence,which transformedthe landscapeof Deir el
Kamarinto a 'princelydomain in Tuscany'.1oSuch
architectural
and aestheticnotions,althoughlimitedin
their effect on the popular imaginary, contributed
neverthelessto the idealizationof the Lebanesemountainasa landscapethatis distinctfromitshinterland,and
The Tusby extension,fromits geographical
expanse.11
can influenceon the architectureof Mount Lebanon
duringthe emirateappearsin retrospectasa falsepremise which nevertheless
indirectlycontributedto the later
of
the
Lebanese
idealization
landscapein popularculture.12We will show thatthe importof ideasfromItaly
came primarilythroughthe effortsof Maroniteclergymen who studied in Rome, some of whom subsequently returnedto Lebanon,applyingsome of their
acquiredskillsin the designof religiousbuildingsin the
nineteenthcentury.This paperexaminessome of the
aspectsof this exchangeand its consequencesin architecturaltermson the developmentof localarchitecture.

The Author[2007]. Publishedby Oxford UniversityPresson behalfof The Design HistorySociety. Allrightsreserved.
AdvanceAccesspublicationdate 10 July 2007
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Elie Haddad

The Mount Lebanon emirate in

history
The emirate denotes the period from the beginning
of the seventeenth until the middle of the nineteenth
century, characterized by most historians as being the
period of gestation of the Lebanese identity, which
came to fruition in the twentieth century with the
founding of the nation-state of Lebanon.13 Already
during that period, the territory under the emirate,
which covered mainly the Mount Lebanon chain,
expanding and retracting according to political and
military events, was given a nominal independence
within the Ottoman Empire.
Where can we trace Tuscan influence on this province, in terms of architecture? The presumed line of
influence goes back to the direct relations between
Fakhreddine II, Emir of Mount Lebanon and the
court of the Medicis in Florence. Fakhreddine II
went to Florence in AD 1613 fleeing the Ottomans,
who grew suspicious of his increased independence
and territorial claims. During this time, he stayed
principally in Livorno and Florence as a guest of the
Medicis [1613-15], and then as a guest of the Spaniards in Sicily and Napoli [1615-18]. Upon his return
to Lebanon, Fakhreddine II wrote to the Medicis asking for their assistance in the art of modern fortifications. He delegated to Ibrahim al-Haqlani14 the
mission of carrying his request to Florence and finding the technical and military experts he needed. The
original request by the Emir also included a medical
doctor, an architect experienced in the building of
palaces, bridges and fortifications, as well as a master
builder experienced in waterworks and another one
in designing and building water fountains, a gardener
and a baker, in addition to six to eight families of
farmers to train the locals in the Italian methods of
agriculture.15There were no specific requests for any
major architect, or anyone with a training under any
of the masters of the time whose work could have
impressed the Emir during his stay in Italy. Additionally, Fakhreddine II requested from the Maronite
Patriarchate the translation of one work on fortifications.16 This raises a question regarding the aesthetic
considerations of this Emir, who had been described
by the Chevalier d'Arvieux as being a man of intense
curiosity and great interest in the arts, poetry and
music.17 How could a man of his intellectual breadth
have only utilitarian concerns and neglect, for

instance, Alberti's treatise on the art of building, to

name just one of the major works on the art of building of the Renaissance?
According to Father Carali, the architectural projects of the Emir started mainly around 1631, upon
the arrival of the Tuscan experts, who included an
architect by the name of Francesco Cioli and a master
builder, Francesco Fagni.s8 It would be safe to assume
that Fagni would have supervised the waterworks

projects,constructionof bridgesat Nahr-el-Kalb,

Sidon and Beirut and other infrastructural and urban
works in Deir el Kamar, the capital of the emirate, in

additionto othermajortowns.Thiswould,of course,

fall well within the main preoccupationsof the Emir
at the time, namely to insure the protection of his
emirate, and to equip it with an infrastructuralsystem
that would allow his troops facility of movement, as
well as improving the living standards of his subjects

by developinga watersupplysystemand training

them in new agricultural methods. No specific buildings were attributed to Cioli, who may have been in
charge of building the palace of Beirut, and the one
in Sidon.
In this case, architecture must have taken a background position, despite the assertions of some historians who relate that Tuscan builders were able in
this short period to create 'magnificent landmarks
which testify to the Italian ingenuity in all artistic
matters'.19 One of the major examples of those magnificent landmarks may have been the Emir's palace
in Beirut, which was, we are told by one traveller,
'designed in the Italian style, with its gardens and
stables and reserve of wild animals', and which constituted one of the 'wonders of the Orient' according to another.20 D'Arvieux compared the palace of
Beirut to that of Sidon, while Maundrell gave a better description of its landscaping, its ornate marble
fountain and its vast gardens.21 Giovanni Mariti's
account, claiming that the palace in Beirut betrayed
its Arabic lineage, is one of the few architectural
descriptions we have of this work, which was falling
into ruins and disappeared around the end of the
nineteenth century.22 Carali interpreted the Arabic
lineage as an attempt by the Tuscan builders to
accommodate the Emir's wishes, creating a work
that would fit in its context. Mariti also attributed
to Tuscan artists the sculptures that were created
for the rectangular courtyard, which was furnished
with mosaics of different colours.23 The design of

162
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Re-Evaluationof the 'TuscanInfluence'

the palace gardensmay have revealed a more direct

influence of Tuscan landscapingideas.
Among the other major works of that period,
FakreddineII's palace in Deir el Kamar,his capital,
which should have held the highest symbolic importance, confirmsthe hypothesisof the secondaryrole
that aestheticsplayed in his priorities,as well as the
limited role that any Tuscan influence played at that
time. The palaceis a fortifiedconstructionwith few
openings, which owes more in its detailingto Egyptian Mamelouk architecturethan to Tuscany,with a
complete absenceof any elementsthat may be attributed to the ItalianRenaissance.The decorativeelement of note in this rathermassiveconstructionis the
entrancedoorway,with its alternatingbandsof white
and yellow limestone, typicalof Mamelukand Ottoman architecture.The neighbouringpalaceof Gergis
as well as
Baz, one of the Emir'schief administrators,
the palace of Younes Maan, also features elaborate
doorways that clearly indicate a taste for Oriental
ornamentation rather than the Classical ornament
revived in the Renaissance[1-3].
The architecturaltypology that appearedwith the
palacesof Deir el Kamarwould continue to influence
the secular and religious buildings of the period,
where a minimal ornamentationrestrictedto specific
parts such as doorways, mandalounwindows and
would be the only enriching elements
musharabiyehs
in an otherwise austere architecture,due in part to
economic, political and militaryreasons.The Emirs
of Mount Lebanon could not ostentatiouslydisplay
their wealth without attractingthe jealousy of the
Ottoman governors.Thus, the building,aswell as the

context, did not seem to impress some travellers, such

as Volney, (pen name of C-F Chasseboeut) who
wrote at the end of the eighteenth century:
The land of the Druzes offers few places of interest. The
most interesting is Deir-el-Kamar, or the House of the
Moon, which is the capitalandresidenceof the Emirs.This
is not a city, but simplya large town poorly built and quite

"":I:i:"
4~;~z~~Y:-"i::'a~~-

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Fig 2. Palaceof GergisBaz, Deir el Kamar

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Fig 1. FakhreddineII'spalacein Deir el Kamar

110/1

'Ova7'

Fig 3. Palaceof Younes Maan,portaldetail,Deir el Kamar

163
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:~r::

Elie Haddad
dirty.It is situatedon the backhillof a mountain,at the foot
of which flows one of the derivativesof the riverTamyras,
today the riverof Damour. [...] The Serail,or the palaceof
the prince, is nothing but a large and badly built mansion
about to fall in ruin.24
In addition to the two palaces in Beirut and Deir
el Kamar, Fakhreddine II also built the Serail and
the Khan of Sidon, the other major centre in the
emirate that the Emir is credited for turning into
one of the most flourishing cities of the Levant.25
The Serail, which today lies in ruins, was built as a
solid construction of dressed stone. It was well
described by D'Arvieux, who noted its sumptuously
decorated and elegant apartments, its pleasant terraces and rich landscaping.26 Yet the detailed
descriptions of D'Arvieux never mention any surprising details in this context, details that could
betray any Italian influence.
To place these architectural achievements of the
emirate in context, the Emir would have certainly
seen the major masterpieces of the Renaissance during
his exile in Florence, namely the Duomo of Santa
Maria in Florence by Brunelleschi with its campanile
and baptistry, and Santa Maria Novella, the fagade of
which was completed by Alberti in 1450, to name a
few of the religious edifices in the city. On an urban
scale, he would have visited the Galleria degli Uffizi,
commissioned by Cosimo I under the direction of
Vasari to house the administrative offices of the city.
Most importantly in this case, he would have been
impressed by the Palazzo Pitti, the residence of the
Medicis, which he visited upon his arrivaland at many
other occasions during his stay.27Besides the Palazzo
Vecchio and the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, where he
stayed,28 there were a number of other landmarks in
Florence that would have caught his attention. Also,
his initial stay in Livorno, one of the 'ideal' cities of
the Renaissance, could not have failed to impress him.
Yet of all these diverse models one finds basically no
influence on the architecture of the emirate, unless the
palace of Beirut could have offeres the only specimen
of this architecture, something that is doubtful if we
take into account the travellers' accounts as well as the
surviving constructions of the emirate period.
The emirate's other landmark was the palace of
Beiteddine, built by Bechir II [1788-1840] at the
beginning of the nineteenth century on the other
side of the mountain, overlooking Deir el Kamar.
This palace was meant to impress friend and foe, as it

was built after a series of battles, at the end of which

Beshir II prevailed over other competing lords of the
mountain.29 Yet again this palace, which was completed almost two centuries after Fakhreddine's, did
not indicate any radical departure from regional
building traditions. These aspects did not go unnoticed by travellers such asJohn Murray who described
the palace in these terms:
We first enter a courtyard,whose battlementedwalls look
out on Deir-el-Kamar--the mountainsidesbelow breaking
down in terracedslopes to the distantsea. Thence there is
an ascentby a broad staircaseinto anothercourt. Here on
the left is a light Saracenicportal leading to the Hall of
Audience and the privateapartmentsof the late Emir. The
apartmentswere light and lofty, finished in the Damascus
style, with tesselatedpavementsof marble,raiseddaises,inlaid walls, arabesquedceilings all gold and glitter [...].30
Whether the portal is of Saracenic or rather Mainelouk inspiration, is not the main issue. What is clear
is the lack of any correspondence that these Western
travellers drew between these palaces and their contemporaries in Italy or Spain, or other parts of Europe,
even in their interior layout and their decoration,
which remained 'Oriental' in style [4,5].
How can we account for the striking continuity of
building traditions in what was the most autonomous
province of the Ottoman Empire, and one with long
established and extensive trading connections? It
appears that in Mount Lebanon, the Ottoman practice of employing local masons as masters of construction projects, rather than artistsor architects, prevailed.
The emergence of the architect as an individual

mO,

2R,nc

Fig 4. Bechir II's palace, Beiteddine

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Re-Evaluationof the 'TuscanInfluence'

a few morebookson the illnessesof animalsandthe treatmentsto be given,alsoon the cultivationof fields.If you
couldalsodiscovera Vignolaor anyothergoodtreatiseon
buildingandthe artsandcraftsin general,thiswouldbe of
much use here. The ArabEmirsalwaysrequestfromus
on the subjectsof arts,which areunknown
explanations
here.AfterMedicine,thissubjectwouldenableus to get

AU

better introducedin this area.32

Wil

The Italian influence on religious

architecture
4
.

laai

AM

...

:
i ] .
"
i:.
. ......... ... .i:.......
.. ,. :.;:

:4

. ..
...:..
.

Fig 5. Bechir II'spalace,detail of portal,Beiteddine

designer,less bound by traditionsand more open to

foreign ideas and influences, did not take place until
the twentieth century.Architecturein Mount Lebanon thereforedid not witnessany radical'renaissance'
which, in the manner of the Italian Renaissance,
would emancipate architecture from the building
trades,bringing forth individualartistsand architects
such as Brunelleschi, Palladio, Serlio, Alberti or
Michelangelo. In these provinces of the Ottoman
Empire,farawayfromthe capitalIstanbul,the responsibility for building remained the prerogative of
master masons, monitored in the major cities by a
mi'marbashi,whose post was equivalentto that of a
superintendentof public works.31There is no evidence that the Emirsof Mount Lebanonbroke with
this long-establishedpractice. Indeed, an interesting
document from the period confirms the persistent
lack of texts that specificallydeal with architecture.
One of the Jesuit missionariessent to Beirut to prepare for the founding of the Jesuit Seminary,laterto
become the Jesuit University, wrote in 1833 to his
superiorsin Rome askingthem to send:

Afterpalatialarchitecture,which does not exhibit significant traces of Tuscan influence, it is to religious

architecturethat we turn our attention.This displays
somewhatmore affinityto ItalianRenaissancesources
in some of its details, although again the references
are fragmentaryand idiosyncratic.In this case, however, there is a more plausiblerationalefor an influence: aninterestin imbuinglocalreligiousarchitecture
with Catholictastefitted with the effortsmadeby the
MaroniteChurchto consolidate,aestheticallyas well
as ideologically,its attachmentto the Roman Catholic church.
Reinforced by the influx of Maronitetheologians,
who had been admitted to the seminariesin Rome
since the end of the fifteenth century, these endeavours must surely have found a better ideological
groundin the young mindsof seminarianswho sometimes returnedwith a religioustrainingcompounded
by a newfound interestin the arts.33Some observers,
such as Volney, did not see any concrete translations
of this experiencebeyond a basic educationin theology, and the learning of the Italian language. He
commented:
theMaronites,
The courtof Rome,in affiliating
gavethem
a hospicein Rome, wherethey couldsend theiryoung
men to receivea freeeducation.It seemsthatthisprocess
shouldhaveintroducedin themthe artsandidealsof Euto a purely
rope:but the studentsof thisschool,restricted
monasticeducation,only bringbackto theircountrythe
Italianlanguage,which is of no use, and a theological
knowledgethatleadsthem to nothing:henceforth,they
soonfallbackinto the commonclassof people.34
Despite this ratherdismissiveassessmentby Volney, it appearsthat the Italianexposure nevertheless
bore fruits at the architecturallevel, even if these
came at a much laterdate. A numberof churchesand

165
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Elie Haddad
chapels in the mountain villages as well as in the cities
testify to this infiltration of Italianate taste in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, visible in the
modest classical details that frame church entrances,
belfries, pediments, windows and other motifs which
are added as ornamental supplements to the traditional Mount Lebanon church type. Yet even in this
realm, the foreign intervention remains limited and
the church as a whole conserves its traditional form
with a modest interior space devoid of any of the
accoutrements of Renaissance churches.35 In few
cases, the church facade is given an Italianate facelift,
while the interior continues to exhibit its stone vault
construction without any decorative treatments [6-8].
Even in the monastery of Bkerke, the seat of the
Maronite Patriarch, we find only a limited intervention in the form of applied motifs to the traditional
vernacular language. The cloister of Bkerke developed in successive phases into a main pavilion which
now frames an internal court, leading to another
pavilion that features a modest Renaissance portal.
The author of this addition appears to be a certain

BrotherLeonard,who introducedthis delicaterefinement to the existing traditions.The adjoiningchapel

in turn is markedby a modest Ionic pilasterwhich
framesthe entrancedoorway,while the interioris left
in its stone vaulted construction,with decorativeribs
articulating the edges of the vaults, in a pseudoGothic fashion. Again one does not find here any

11.

15,WE

lb7,

24Fig 7. Church in Ghadir, facade detail

Iw
ll

:":k

11,

Mr

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r-

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Fig 6. Chapel in Ghadir,Keserwan

KOR

Fig 8. Church in Ghadir,interior

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Re-Evaluationof the 'TuscanInfluence'

significanttracesof Renaissanceinfluence, either in

the use of classicalmotifs or in the treatmentof the
internalwalls and ceiling [9-11].
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, two
imposingchurchesof Westerntype were erected:the
Maronitecathedralin Beirutandthe Maronitecathedral
in Batroun, both by the Italian architect Guiseppe
Maggiori.The Beirutcathedral[1884-94], more than
its sisterin Batroun,clearlyexpressesits Italianate
lineage
in its classicalproportions, pediment and the combined use of Ionic pilastersand columns on the main
fagade,as well as its interior spatialorganizationand
detailing.The interior of the church reflectsa desire
to modernize the traditional church interior by
replacingthe traditionalvault constructionby a coffered ceiling, opening up the space and accentuating

IAl;
IN
ORon
IN
MEN

MR
HIS,

its perspectivalvision. This cathedralrepresentsone

of the most elaborateexamplesof Renaissanceinfluence on religious architecturein Lebanon, despite
some of its regionalaccents, namely the use of local
sandstoneand the modest articulationsof the fagade,
compared with the fagade of I1 Gesu in Rome, a
church which served as a paradigmaticexample for
many of the churches in Italy and elsewhere. The
imposing style and Westernizing accents must have
left some deep impressionsat the time, especiallyif
one comparesthis new cathedralto the more modest
religiousedificesthen existing in the city [12,13].36
The question of the ideologicalprogrammeof the
MaroniteChurch, as far as architectureis concerned,
needs furtherstudy. Whether these limited architectural operations were tied to an ideological programmeaimedat chartinga new directionin religious
architecture,reflectingthe Church'srecent affiliation
with the Roman Catholic church, remainsan open
question.37 What is evident, however, is that the
importationof Western ideas in architecturedid not
come so much through civic works such as town

A
VO
ARMp

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All, W

T7,

..:
............

ON

WN

-- ---

-----

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Fig 9. Bkerke Cloister, entrancedetail

77,
7V,

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...

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'':

7i

::::i::::

..

..

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Fig 10. Bkerke Cloister, church entrance detail

Fig 11. Bkerke Cloister, church interior

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Elie Haddad

al
FAll

"M
41

. ... ....
...... .....
I
NOW--

av77

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Fig 12. MaroniteCathedral,Beirut, facade

Fig 13. Maronite Cathedral, Beirut, interior [after restoration]

halls,villasor palaces,as is conventionallyassumed,as

through religiousand specificallyMaronite architecture, which translatedin one way or another the
growing exchange between this Church and the
Church of Rome.

was sent to the Emir the introductionof the red-tile

roof, characteristicof the LebaneseHouse, as well as
the typical arcade that distinguishes the facade, in
addition to a reconfigurationof the house interior
arounda centralatrium.38Yet this assertionis in contradictionto most evidence about the appearanceof
this type of architecture,which datesit to the middle
of the nineteenth century [14].
Among the firstarchitecturalstudiesto look at this
vernacularhousing traditionwere Kalayanand LigerBelair'spublication.39In this study, the two authors
each take a differentposition on the lineage of this
house type. Kalayantracedthe CentralHall House to
the originalhouse typesfound in Byblos around3000
BC, conceding that this specifictype seems to be the
genuine expression of an authentic traditionwhich
kept evolving since, even retracingthe characteristic
triple-arch opening to ancient prototypes in the
region.40Although Liger-Belairalso seems to concede the Lebaneseidentityof the CentralHall House,
he neverthelessintroducesanotherpossibility,that of
its relationto the Venetianpalatialarchitectureof the

The CentralHall House

The third area of influence is that of the domestic
house, and especially what is commonly known as
the 'LebaneseHouse', in its most developed type: the
CentralHall House. The CentralHall was characteristic of the patricianhouses in the majorcities, or the
feudaland noble mansionsin the mountainsof Lebanon. It is characterizedby its cubic form, surmounted
by a red-tile roof, with the tiles importedfrom Marseille, and its triple-archopeningsat the centre of the
main facade.The materialof constructionwas always
stone: sandstonecovered by stucco in the cities on
the coast, and limestone in the mountains. Father
Carali, writing in the 1930s, attributedto the early
seventeenth-centuryTuscan mission of experts that

168
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Re-Evaluationof the 'TuscanInfluence'

Fig 14. CentralHall House,
Beirut

41:

Renaissance.41Liger-Belairdid not exclude the possibility of this cross-fertilizationbetween East and

West as the origin of this specific type, which returns
from Venice to the cities on the Lebanese coast,
implementedhere in its specificvariation.42
In another study, FriedrichRagette, who drew a
detailedanalysisof the typology of the domestichouse
in Lebanon, dismissedthe hypothesis of its possible
derivationfrom the Venetianpalazzi,concludingthat
this typology andits constitutiveelements,such as the
triple-arch, were indigenous developments in tune
with local climatic,topographic,socialand other factors. Ragette's conclusionsattributedthese common
typologies and the recurrenceof certainmotifs, such
as the pointed arch, to the widespreaddissemination
of building traditionsacrossthe Mediterraneansince
antiquity.Yet the developmentsin each casewere by
and largeparticularto each cultureand climate.43
The topic of the LebaneseHouse andits most illustrious example, the Central Hall House, remains a
question open to differentinterpretations.Recently,
it was againthe subjectof a collective work in which
differentauthorsaddressedits origin and variationsin
Lebanon and the region.44 Semaan Kfouri again
brought up the surprisingsimilaritiesbetween the
houses along the Venetian Canal and the Lebanese
House, without necessarilyconceding a directlineage

between the former,which appearedaroundthe thirteenth century, and the latter, which only appeared
aroundthe mid-nineteenthcentury.45May Davie, in
a morphological study which went deeper into the
sources, did not reach a definite conclusion on the
origin of this type, but attributedit to a multiplicityof
sources and influences, mainly local masons, engineersand artistswho have contributedtheir skillsand
knowledge to its development, leading to the most
refined example that would constitute the 'model'.
Davie seemed,to favourimplicitlythe theory of local
evolution, with influences from abroad limited to
techniques and materials,which naturallyaccompanied the gradualmodernizationof that period.46
Davie'shypothesisis the most plausible,takinginto
considerationthat most of these mansionsdate back
to the nineteenth century, and not to the earlier
period of the emirate.The CentralHall constitutesa
majorarchetype,a type that has been in constantuse
since antiquity,not exclusivelyTuscan, or Venetian,
or Lebanesefor that matter.On the other hand, the
two majorRenaissancemodels, the villaand the palazzo--the villa as epitomizedby Palladioin the Venetian countryside, and the palazzo in its multiple
variations-did not find any translationsin the cities
or mountainsof Lebanon. One may attributethis to
the limitations of materials and construction

169
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Elie Haddad
luxurious palaces. He was assistedin this by architectsfrom
Italy and Lebanese builders. The notables in the country
imitated the Emir in their own palatial architecture, and
buildingactivityspreadin all regionsin the country.'
Al Tarikh,5th YearElementary,
Ministryof Education,Beirut,
2000 [p. 35, my translation].
2 Paolo Carali,Fakhrad-Din II Principodel Libanoe la Cortedi
Toscana,2 vols., Reale Accademia d'Italia, Roma, 1936,
translatedinto Arabic in Reale Accademia d'Italia, Roma,
1938, reprintedin DarLahdKhater,Beirut, 1992. All references
to this document are in the Arabicversion.

techniques, as well as to the rather conservative climate in which the local vernacular evolved, a vernacular which was adapted successfully to the
functional and cultural specificities of the local culture, and to the topography of the Lebanese mountains. Still, the absence of any interpretations of these
Italian models in local forms poses some serious
questions about any presumed Tuscan influence on
Lebanese architecture as a whole.

3 The ideologicalconstructionof the historyof Lebanonand its

multiple variationsis well analysedby Ahmad Beydoun in his
Le Liban: Une Histoire Disputee: Identite et Temps dans
libanaisecontemporaine,
Universite Libanaise,
l'historiographie
Beyrouth, 1989 [text in Arabic]. In this regard, the role of
FakhreddineII is importantin the foundationalmyth of the
Lebanesestate,andis relateddifferentlyby a numberof authors,
each stressingthe particularaspectsthat appealto them in their
interpretationof historicevents. The most prominent of those
historiansof the emirate were Jouplain, Malouf, Lammens,
Carali,Khalidi,Ismail,NoujaimandChebli.Beydoununcovers
the different interpretations of Fakhreddine II by these
historiansand their ideological underpinnings,exposing their
fault lines which split around the 'Arabic', 'Syrian' and
'Lebanese'poles, aswell asthe 'EuropeanModel' illustratedby
his architecturalachievements versus the Islamic model of
political governance.Beydoun, pp. 385-425.

Conclusion
As I suggested at the beginning of this paper, it
appearsfrom the extant examplesof the architecture
of the period thatthe 'Tuscaninfluence'on architecturein Mount Lebanonfrom the seventeenthcentury
has been largelya matterof speculation,despite the
politicalandeconomic relationsthatevolved between
the emirateand the court of the Medicisin Florence.
These relationsdid markthe political and economic
historyof the period and over the following centuries
contributedto the evolution of a distinct,cosmopolitan Lebaneseculture. This exchange did not, however, translate significantly into architecture as
happened,for instance,in England,Portugal,Scandinaviaor LatinAmericaduringthe sameperiod. Such
disseminationas took place in Lebanoncan be traced

4 Lammensnotes in passing,in his survey of the history of the

region, that Fakhreddineresided alternatelyin Beirut and
Sidon, in palaces furnished by Western artists. See Henri
Lammens,La Syrie,PrecisHistorique,Lahd Khater,Beyrouth,
1994 [originallypublishedin 1921], vol. 1, ch. 13.
5 Noujaim emphasized the European model on which the
new state of FakhreddineII was established.A. Beydoun, op.
cit., pp. 392-6.
6 Michel Chebli, Fakhreddine
IIMaan,PrinceduLiban,Universite
Libanaise,Beyrouth, 1984.
7 See Philip Hitti's A ShortHistoryof Lebanon,St Martin'sPress,
New York, 1965.

best-though to a limited extent-in religious architecture, as 'ornamental infusions'. These may have
carried within them, consciously or unconsciously, a
desire to give form to the ideological project of developing a Lebanese identity separate and distinct from
its immediate geographic context.
Elie Haddad
LebaneseAmericanUniversity
E-mail: ehaddad@lau.edu.lb

8 Ibid.
9 Raja Choueiri, Deir-al-Qamar
et Fakhreddine,
Beyrouth, Felix
Beryte, 1999, pp. 9-11 [my translation].
10 Ibid.

11 Choueiri'sessayalso offersan example of this, when he infers

from this culturaland artisticmovement the beginnings of a
to makein relationto thisarticle,pleasego to
clear demarcationbetween the Lebanese landscape and its
If you haveany comments
hinterland:
thejournalwebsiteon http://jdh.oxfordjournals.org
andaccessthisarticle.
Thereis afacilityon the sitefor sendingemailresponses
to the editorial
'[...] the LebaneseMountainwill from this moment on andfor
boardandotherreaders.
centuriesto come begin to denote to foreign observerssome
specific signs previously unseen in the Orient, which in the
fields of civic or military architecture,in certain works of
art, in agriculture,in customs, language and culture evoke
1 This is reflected in the official history book for elementary
the influence of renascentItaly, and more generally, that of
Europe.' [p. 10]
education,which gives a synopsisof this 'common' knowledge
on the topic. FakhreddineII is portrayedin this officialhistory 12 In addition to the foundationalmyths that dealt with the
as a visionarywho founded the stateof Lebanonand charteda
prehistoricLebanon,the Lebaneseidentity relied stronglyon a
new buildingprogrammeacrossthe country:
romantic representationof the Lebanon Mountains as an
'Fakhreddinetook great interest in architecturein Lebanon.
Lebanon:A
idealized space. See Elise Salem's Constructing
He reorganizedthe coastalcities and createdgardensand built
Narratives,
UniversityPressof Florida,2003.
Centuryof Literary

Notes

170
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Re-Evaluation of the 'Tuscan Influence'

33 The Maronite Seminarywas founded under GregoryXIII in
1584, for the purpose of educatingMaronite theologiansin
Rome. This college counted among its graduatesin the
Ibrahim al Haqlani was a notable man in his time. After
seventeenthcentury,Jibrailal Sahyuniandthe alreadymentioned
studying to become a Maronite monk, he left the order but
Ibrahimal Haqlanialsoknown underthe LatinnameofAbraham
continuedto servehis community, and assistedthe Emir as his
Ecchellensis.See K. Salibi,op. cit., pp. 219-21.
to the courtof Tuscany,andworked asa tradesman
ambassador
other
activities.
See
Nasser
Les
34
Quoted in K. Salibi,op. cit., pp. 221-2.
Echanges
among
Gemayel,
CulturelsentrelesMaronites
et l'Europe,2 vols., Beyrouth, 1984. 35 One of the
majorarchitectsof Maronitereligiousarchitecture
in the twentieth century is the monk Neemtallah el-Maadi
P. Carali,op. cit., pp. 310-3.
[1881-1954], who studied at the Beaux Arts in Paris and
M. Chebli, op. cit., chs. 10 and 11.
Brussels, and after the First World War became the major
Quoted in M. Chebli, op. cit., p. 17.
architectof Maronitechurchesin Lebanon.
P. Carali,op. cit., pp. 152, 312.
36 This aspect was noted as well by Samir Kassir in his
Ibid., p. 152.
comprehensivehistoryof Beirut. See SamirKassir'sHistoirede
Beyrouth,Fayard,Paris,2003, pp. 181-2.
152.
Ibid., p.
37 In contrastwith the aestheticissues,the politicalprocessof the
M. Chebli, op. cit., pp. 111-13.
MaroniteChurch'saffiliationwith Rome waswell documented
Giovanno Mariti, TravelsthroughCyprus,Syria, and Palestine
in historic archives and revisited by historians. On the
with a GeneralHistory of the Levant, Robinson, London,
transactionsthatled to the MaroniteChurcheventualaffiliation
1791-92. Mariti's account is also related in P. Carali, op.
with Rome, see Ghassanal Ayyache's Majama'al Louaizeh
153.
cit., p.
1736, Dar al Takadoumia,Beirut, 1991 [in Arabic].
P. Carali,op. cit., p. 153.
38 P. Carali,op. cit., p. 153.
Constantin-FrancoisCasseboeuf, Travelsin Egypt and Syria, 39 Haroutune
Kalayan& Jacques Liger-Belair,L'Habitationau
vol. 2, 1787, pp. 84-5.
Liban,APSAD, Beyrouth, 1970.
M. Chebli, op. cit., p. 109.
40 'If the Central Hall house is considered, appropriatelyas it
seems,to be specificallyLebanese,the TripleArcadesymbolizes
Quoted in Ibid., pp. 109-10.
for everyone the "Lebanesetradition"'.H. Kalayan&J. LigerCaralirelates,basedon the documents,the arrivalof the Emir
Belair,op. cit., partI, p. 36 [my translation].
to Florence, and his reception at the PalazzoPitti, which he
enteredfrom the gardenside. See P. Carali,op. cit., p. 190.
41 Liger-Belair bases his analogy on Hilde Zaloscer's study
'Survivanceet Migration',MelangesIslamologiques,Cairo,no.
FakhreddineII is reported to have stayed in Pope Leo X's
1, 1954. H. Kalayan&J. Liger-Belair,op. cit., partII, p. 74.
at
the
Palazzo
Vecchio
while
in
Florence
while
his
apartment
main addressremainedin Livorno until May 1614. In June 42 H. Kalayan&J. Liger-Belair,op. cit., partII, p. 77.
1614, he moved to PalazzoMedici Riccardi,where he stayed 43 Friedrich Ragette, Architecture
in Lebanon,Caravan Books,
until July 1615. See Hafez Chehab's 'Reconstructing the
New York, 1974, pp. 115-19, 166-80.
Medici Portraitof FakhrAl-Din Al Ma'ani',Muqarnas,
vol. 11,
44 Michael Davie, editor of the study, contributed an article
1994, pp. 117-24.
which critically evaluatesthe ideological discourse that has
K. Salibi,op. cit., p. 68.
surroundedthe LebaneseHouse. For more, see his 'La"maison
aux trois arcs"et la constructionideologique du patrimoineau
John Murray, Handbookfor Travellersin Syria & Palestine,
Aux TroisArcs:unearchitecture
Liban',in La MaisonBeyrouthine
Murray,London, 1875.
du Levant,Michael Davie (ed.), ALBA & Tours:
bourgeoise
Antoine Abdel Nour, Introduction
a l'HistoireUrbainede la Syrie
CREUMA, Beyrouth,2003, pp. 343-69.
Ottomane,Univ. Libanaise,Beyrouth, 1982, pp. 137-54.
45
SemaanKfouri, 'La maison a hall centralau Liban:origines,
Letterof FatherPaul Riccadoma to FathersFiganiand Ryllo,
influences,identities',in MichaelDavie, op. cit., pp. 33-55.
dated 24 November 1833, p. 140, in Sami Kuri's UneHistoire
du Libana travers
lesarchives
la maisonaux
des esuites,3 vols., darel Mashreq, 46 May Davie, 'Genesed'unedemeurepatrimoniale:
troisarcsde Beyrouth',in MichaelDavie, op. cit., pp. 57-96.
Beyrouth, 1996 [my translation].

13 Kamal Salibi, The Modern History of Lebanon, 1st edn.,

Weidenfeld& Nicolson, London, 1965.
14

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17
18
19
20
21
22

23
24
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