Unesco and Italy will rehabilitate the iconic Beirut train station

Unesco and Italy will rehabilitate the iconic Beirut train station

NNA - As part of the initiative ofUnesconbsp;#39;LiBeirut#39; the Agency ofnbsp;United Nationsnbsp;andItalynbsp;today signed an agreement for the restoration and recovery of the industrial heritage of the Beirut railway station in Mar Mikhael, thanks to a loan from the Italian Cooperation of 2.000.000 euros. The announcement was made during a ceremony held by UNESCO, the Italian Embassy in Beirut and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (Aics), at the station, in the presence of the Director General of Antiquities, Sarkis Khoury, representing the Minister of Culture, the Director of the Railway and Public Transport Authority, Ziad Nasr, representing the Minister of Transport, and the director of the Country Program of UN-Habitat in Lebanon, Taina Christiansen.

The stationnbsp;Mar Michael, built in 1894 was abandoned during the civil war, and in 2020 was hit by explosions in the port of Beirut. This project is part of a global intervention financed by Italy to preserve the industrial heritage of the old Mar Mikhael railway station and open the space to the public. The first component of the Italian-funded intervention will be implemented by Un-Habitat and aims to create onenbsp;public green spacenbsp;in the railway station area for the benefit of the people of Beirut. With the