Prior to Lebanon’s devastating 15-year civil war between rightists Christians and leftists Muslims, Beirut was the main cultural city in the Middle East.

The city’s tolerant culture and free-wheeling ways attracted visitors not only from conservative Arab countries but many Western nations as well. But tourism was only half the appeal. The 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the resulting forced exile of 800,000 Palestinians ended Haifa’s position as the Middle East’s many banking center. Beirut inherited that position with several banks started up to house new oil money from Gulf countries and savings from Arabs escaping the socialism of regimes in Syria and Iraq - the most famous was Intra Bank founded and headed by Palestinian Yousef Beidas - and several Westerns firms headquartering their Middle East offices - banks and otherwise - in the “Paris of the Middle East.” All this made Beirut very rich and the wealthy enjoyed a life of fancy dinning and outings. A Time news item from that period perfectly captures that spirit:

The 140 union-shop employees of Socony Mobil Oil of Lebanon work in a flossy new air-conditioned building in Beirut, and their pay scale ranks among the best in Lebanon, but last week they went out on strike. Reason: management’s offer of a cost-of-living pay increase failed to include the soaring costs of entertainment “necessary to break the monotony of employment.”

The Casino du Liban was one of many prominent establishments:

(Photo Credit: Casino du Liban.)

Although nights at the Casino were not typical for most people, this photo still speaks to the way Beirut once was.

All this and more was lost when civil war broke out in April 1975 and continued till 1990. Several nations would intervene, Israel’s 1982 invasion lead to the deaths of 20,000 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians and the Sabra and Chatila massacre, hundreds of U.S. Marines would also face death; and in the end 1 million Lebanese sought exile and over 150,000 were dead all the while the causes of civil war - the nation’s confessional politics - remained in place albeit in modified form.

Although the civil war concluded 19 years ago, walking around some districts in Beirut and once could not be faulted for thinking fighting just ended. Many parts of Beirut remain war torn.

Nonetheless, the nation though has undergone very impressive rebuilding and is currently in the phase of a DJ makeover:

The view from Noir, a recent addition to Beirut’s clubbing scene, over the Lebanese capital’s Gemmayzeh district and port area is stunning. Yet few of Noir’s patrons take any notice of the elegant buildings and the spotlights sweeping the sky from some of the neighbouring nightclubs.

Dressed to the nines, Noir’s denizens are strictly there to watch each other and to be seen in what is, according to some, the hottest new place in town. Noir is one of several such establishments that opened at the start of the summer to take advantage of an unprecedented surge in tourism in Lebanon.

“Of course we timed it to open at the start of the summer,” says Rima Ariss, Noir’s marketing manager. The investors behind the $2.6m club “did feasibility studies and looked at the situation and saw that there is a gap in the market. There are only a handful of real nightclubs in Beirut while demand is very big,” adds Ms Ariss. . . .

The effort to overhaul the image is being helped by flashy nightclubs filled to the rafters – if they have any because many are on rooftops – and by big-name events featuring international DJs and such star turns as Snoop Dogg, the US rapper.

Beirut’s revived party town image comes at a time when the region’s only other aspiring entertainment centre, Dubai, has hit the financial buffers and as the DJ scene in Europe is said to have peaked. All agree that the music, party and events sector in Lebanon is growing.

“Lebanon is said to rank fourth in the world in terms of booking international DJs,” says Mohammed Ghebris, events booker, record shop owner, record label proprietor and founder and head of “the only DJ school in the Middle East”. He says that international DJs cancel other gigs to play Beirut. “They enjoy it more here. They tell me that the people dance here like nowhere else.”

He offers the prospect of Beirut rivalling such famous party destinations as Ibiza and Miami one day.

The nation’s most prominent dance club is SkyBar; no elaboration needed. Unlucky upon its launch - opening night was the night preceding the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war - the club rebounded and has become the hottest spot in the city. Open seasonally, it attracts an A-list crowd some of whom, usually wealth Gulf Arabs, reserve summer tables at $14,000 and sometimes spend near, if not more, than that in one night.

While SkyBar may offer the best views, not many establishments serve drinks in former bunkers. For that head to B018; the fashionable club was carved out of a militia bunker used during the civil war.

Beirut is certainly trying to recreate the spirit of the old days. But while Beirut’s hip crowd is dancing, it would not hurt to remember what ended those days in the first place.