Baabda
Baabda (Arabic: بعبدا) is the capital city of Baabda District and Mount Lebanon Governorate, in western Lebanon. Baabda was also the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon that existed from 1861 to 1918.
Baabda
بعبدا | |
|---|---|
City | |
Baabda skyline | |
Baabda Location within Lebanon | |
| Coordinates: 33°50′0″N 35°32′0″E | |
| Country | Lebanon |
| Governorate | Mount Lebanon Governorate |
| District | Baabda District |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Total | 84,900 |
| Metro population | |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Dialing code | +961 |
Baabda is home to many nation's embassies including the Italian, Japanese, Jordanian, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Indonesian, and Spanish embassies. It is also home to the Ministry of Defense and many other administrative centres in Lebanon. Baabda is also known for its Ottoman Castle.
In 1956, Baabda Palace was built in Baabda on a hill overlooking the Lebanese capital, Beirut. It is the residence of the president of Lebanon. The first president to reside there was Charles Helou from 1964 to 1970.
Between 1988 and 1990, Lebanon's interim prime minister, Michel Aoun took up residence in the Baabda Palace surrounded by Lebanese army soldiers who had remained loyal to him. During the War of Liberation, Syrian forces attacked the presidential palace on October 13, 1990, forcing Aoun to flee and seek shelter in the French Embassy in Baabda. Eight days later, Dany Chamoun, son of former President Camille Chamoun, was assassinated with his family in their apartment in Baabda.