Since 2001
The Old Souk of Jounieh
Demolition bans won, restorations regulated, façades cleaned and repainted — and a festival that turns the souk into a pedestrian street by night.
Est. 1960 · Beirut
The Association
Association pour la Protection des Sites et Anciennes Demeures au Liban — the Association for Protecting Natural Sites and Old Buildings in Lebanon.
The Founding
An appeal, answered
In 1960, APSAD launched its first appeal to the Lebanese people — to those who would preserve harmonious, well-ordered towns and villages; a welcoming Lebanon, proud of its past, trustful in its future.
Those who wished to save their heritage joined the association and supported its action. APSAD requests all initiatives, accepts all suggestions, saves old buildings, and coordinates all efforts within the field.
Wherever you go in Lebanon, you will find the print of that work: around one hundred architectural treasures saved through plans, drawings, and painstaking documentation, and regional sections carrying the mission across the country.
Purpose
Our Mission
To identify, protect, conserve, and promote the cultural and natural heritage of Lebanon — acting upon the laws that shield it, restoring what can be saved, and documenting what must be remembered, so that these assets pass intact to the next generation.
Aspiration
Our Vision
A Lebanon whose architectural and natural heritage is universally valued and defended — where old souks, houses, and sites are living sources of knowledge, identity, and sustainable prosperity, and where the country regains the standing its past deserves.
Across Lebanon
Where we work
Beirut
The salon on Sursock Street — headquarters since the founding
Tripoli
Regional section — from the Hammam el-Jédid to the old khans
Deir el-Qamar
Regional section — a rehabilitated residence in the Chouf since 1972
Saïda & Aley
Regional sections — carrying the work along the coast and mountain
Development Projects
2001 — 2002
Tourist Centre of Jbeil
A historic residence restored with the DGA and the municipal council to welcome visitors to Kesrouan, Jbeil, and Batroun.
Two-year study
Salima Village
With Patrimoine Sans Frontières and a team of Lebanese architects, seventy residences were classified as historic by the Ministry of Culture.
The Chronicle
The association, lately
May 2017
National Heritage Days
Three itineraries with the Ministry of Culture — departing the Linda Sursock palace for the old souks of Douma and Batroun, the fortresses of Niha in the Bekaa, and the silk works and heritage houses of Qobayat in Akkar.
Jan 2017
Nocturne d'opéra
For APSAD's 57th anniversary, four voices and a string quintet among the marble gods of the National Museum of Beirut, under the patronage of the Minister of Culture.
May 2016
The Zaki Nassif Museum opens
The composer's blue house in Mashghara returns as museum, cultural centre, and music school — some 1,100 works opened to the public, and APSAD's music school receiving its first students.
In the Press
L'Orient-Le Jour · January 2017
« Le patrimoine libanais sur un air d'opéra »
Annahar · January 2017
الموسيقى والغناء الأوبرالي أعادا رمق حياة إلى التماثيل الرخام
Sky News Arabia · August 2016
افتتاح متحف زكي ناصيف بذكراه المئوية
L'Orient-Le Jour · June 2016
« Bienvenue chez Zaki Nassif ! »
Al Jazeera.net · May 2016
منزل زكي ناصيف يتحول لمتحف ومعهد موسيقي
Middle East Online · June 2016
بيت زكي ناصيف متحفاً ومركزاً ثقافياً
Leadership
The Executive
Twelve committee members are elected by the general assembly; these are among the hands that carry the work.
Raya Daouk
President
Presiding over the association's restorations, campaigns, and partnerships — from the Zaki Nassif Museum to the defense of Beirut's old houses.
Costa Doumani
Director of Operations
Orchestrating field operations and sustaining the work of the regional sections across Lebanon.
Yasmine Makaroun
Architect & Conservation Specialist
The architect behind the study that turned Zaki Nassif's family house into a museum, cultural centre, and music school.
Continue the Story
Sixty-five years, and counting
Every saved building in the record began with someone deciding it mattered. Membership, volunteering, advocacy — choose your way in.