Culture Minister adds Atelier Assaf to Lebanon's list of national museums

In a significant move highlighting the nation's commitment to preserving its rich cultural heritage, Mohammad Mortada, Lebanon's Caretaker Minister of Culture, announced the inclusion of Atelier Assaf in Al Warhanieh on the list of Lebanese national museums. 

During the occasion, the culture minister said: "We announce this to all of Lebanon because all of Lebanon is concerned with this beauty in which nature sleeps in the hope of holiness, the holiness of history in its process that was frozen in places and liberated in times." 

Recently opened to the public in 2016, Atelier Assaf is a cultural and eco-tourism project located in the fertile valley of Al Warhaniyeh, in Shouf Caza, and reflects on nature, culture, and art. 

Surrounded by virgin nature, the project aims to promote the art of environmental and sustainable architecture. The Atelier features a small botanical garden, a sculpture park, an art museum, and a rural ecological house. 

Initiated by three brothers - Assaf, Mansour, and Aref – who are sculptors, they passed down the heritage of carving stones through generations.