Guardians of the sea: Beirut’s lighthouse family
Date: Monday, March 14, 2016 By: Dana Abed Source: The Daily Star BEIRUT: For more than 150 years, one family, from father to son, has been in charge of lighting the Manara (lighthouse) of Ras Beirut. The Cheblis took it upon themselves to keep the shore marked out brightly and keep ships safe as they approach Beirut. The first Manara was built a few meters away from where the iconic black and white one stands on a hill above the water. In the 1840s, under the reign of the Ottoman Empire, the first lighthouse was built and stood around 25 meters tall, burning kerosene for light. “It was very hard to manage,” said Victor Chebli, the latest generation of lighthouse keeper, “My father used to gather 2 or 3 gallons of Kerosene every day and carry it up the stairs in the dark to l