Around 30 museums and cultural institutions across the country welcomed visitors for a night dedicated to rediscovering Lebanon’s rich heritage and encouraging a year round culture of museum visits.
Lebanese museums were transformed this Thursday evening into a destination open to everyone, as the “La Nuit des Musées” event organized by the Ministry of Culture got underway. Around 30 museums and cultural institutions are opening their doors free of charge from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m., in an initiative aimed at encouraging Lebanese people to rediscover their cultural heritage.
The event includes archaeological, artistic, scientific, and heritage museums across various Lebanese regions, including the National Museum of Beirut, Sursock Museum, Beit Beirut, and the Banque du Liban Museum, as well as university museums and archaeological sites in Byblos, Sidon, Tyre, Tripoli, Baalbek, Akkar, and other areas.
The Ministry of Culture has also allocated free buses departing from Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut to facilitate visitors’ transportation between the capital’s museums, while guided tours are being organized in the old cities of Sidon and Tyre.
Visitors listening to the tour guide (Nabil Ismail)
Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh said that the previous edition attracted around 30,000 visitors in just four hours, noting that the number of participating institutions has increased this year from around 20 to 30 museums, with participation expanding beyond the capital.
Salameh explained that the initiative’s goal is not limited to opening museums free of charge for one day but rather aims to establish a culture of museum visits throughout the year and encourage Lebanese families to learn about their country’s history and heritage.
The event holds particular significance in a country that is home to more than 10,000 archaeological sites, spanning from the Stone Age through the Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman civilizations, all the way to the modern era. This makes Lebanon one of the region’s richest countries in terms of cultural heritage relative to its size.
The “La Nuit des Musées” event in Lebanon is part of a global initiative that began in Berlin in 1997, before evolving into an annual cultural event involving hundreds of museums around the world. Its aim is to make the museum a vibrant space open to the public, rather than simply a place for preserving historical collections.
This year’s event also included a visit by the US ambassador to Lebanon and his wife to the National Museum of Beirut, where they were welcomed by the Minister of Culture, as part of the activities accompanying “La Nuit des Musées.”
From the first Museums Night attended by the American ambassador and his wife, and Minister Salameh (Nabil Ismail)
The American ambassador and his wife (Nabil Ismail)
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