Debbane Palace

Debbane Palace, also Qasr Debbane, Dar Ali Agha al-Hammud, and Dar Debbané, is an Arab-Ottoman-style grand mansion in Sidon, Lebanon. The palace was built as a private residence in 1721 by Ali Agha al-Hammud, a Sidonian notable descending from a long line of builders. The palace was built around a central courtyard without any street-level openings to ensure the privacy of its occupants. Only the reception area or selamlik remains of the palace's original wings; it features an indoor fountain, elaborate multicolored mosaics, muqarnas ornaments and sculpted Lebanese cedar ceilings. The palace changed hands and functions after the loss of the Hammuds' political influence and wealth. The western part of the mansion, including the selamlik was bought in 1859 by Asin Khlat Debbane, the wife of a rich sericulturist and silk trader. The Dar was thenceforth known as Qasr Debbane or Debbane Palace; it became the private residence of the Debbane family until the early years of the Lebanese Civil War in 1976. During the war the palace was damaged and ransacked. After the end of the war the palace was restored and turned into a private museum. During the 15th-century reign of Sultan Mehmed II, the Ottomans introduced the Iltizam tax-farming system in which a mültezim was responsible for collecting revenue from a mukataa, a parcel of land owned by the Ottoman crown. The term of an Iltizam ranged from one to twelve years. In 1695, the Iltizam was superseded by the Malikâne system where tax-farming contracts were granted for life, and a tenant could give the tax-farm to an heir if the treasury agreed. Under both systems, revenue collection rights were awarded to the highest bidder who could keep profits after forwarding to the Sublime Porte (imperial government). The ayan, a class of local notables or dynasts, developed into the chief owners of these rights. They were more efficient than the governors in the preceding Timar system at forwarding revenues to Porte, and their local nature afforded them more knowledge of the region's politics and a vested interest in its success. The Hammud ayan established themselves in the port city of Sidon in the 16th or 17th century and became its tax collectors from the early 18th century. They benefited from the 1695 fiscal reform, which granted them lifetime Malikâne, thereby increasing their political power and wealth significantly. Before the "age of Ayan", urban development had been the privilege of non-local Ottoman officials; the Hammuds were prime among other Sidonian notables to sponsor large-scale urban development projects, including the construction of commanding private residences, mosques, public hammams (bathhouses), khans (caravanserais) and schools, among other buildings. Mustafa Katkhuda, a Hammud notable of the first half of the 17th century, was the first to leave material architectural evidence of the family's involvement in urban development. Katkhuda commissioned Sidon's Kikhiya mosque in 1634–1645. In the early 18th century, Mustafa Agha al-Hammud was the first Hammud to be identified in written records.[a] He was a prolific builder; among his commissions are the city's Hammam al-Jadid (New Bathhouse) and the enlargement of the Bahri Mosque. The family's building activity was continued by Mustafa's son Ali Agha al-Hammud, who had become Sidon's tax farmer around the late 1710s and held that position until c. 1735; Ali was, like Mustafa a waqf (religious endowment) trustee. He commissioned two of the city's most prestigious private residences to showcase his wealth;[b] he also commissioned public amenities including Khan al-Hummus and Hammam al-Ward (Rose Bathhouse).