Bsous Silk Museum
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متحف الحرير | |
 The Silk Museum, in 1960 | |
 | |
| Location | Bsous, Aley Lebanon  |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°49′00″N 35°34′20″E / 33.8168°N 35.5721°E |
| Type | Silk |
| President | George and Alexandra Asseily |
| Website | Official site |
Bsous Silk Museum (Arabic: متحف الحرير بسوس) is a silk museum in the town of Bsous near Wadi Chahrour in Lebanon, located around 15 kilometres east of Beirut.
The structure was originally built by the Fayad family, and operated as a silk factory between 1901 and 1954.[1] In 1990, for a short time, the factory and the grounds were occupied by the Syrian army.[2] It was restored by its owners, George and Alexandra Asseily, with the help of Jean-Louis Mange, to serve as a museum.[3] The museum opened in 2000 and highlights the 1,500-year-old history of silk production in Lebanon, which ended when the last silk mill closed in the 1970s.[4]
Thierry Huau and Francoise Le Noble Predine from Paris, played a major role in the redevelopment of the gardens to the building. Le Noble brought wild silk from Madagascar and together with Mona Sader Issa helped to establish aMED, the Association of Memory and Development.[2] Students of the Lycée Agricole et Horticole of Saint Germain en Laye in France and the Association have been responsible for many ecological projects in the village of Bsous and the pine forests around Beirut.[2] Architect Jacques Abou Khaled, under the management of Sami Feghali were responsible for the redesign of the building into a museum.[2]
