trees to stop the advance of sand south of the city of Beirut in an area inhabited by Christians and Druze. In fact, much earlier chroniclers report a forest of pine trees stretching from the sea to the northern border of Badaro. In the 13th century, William of Tyre called the forest " La Pinée" or "Sapinoie". Today's residential neighborhood was planned after the end of World War I by French urban planner Michel Ecochard along the eastern border of Beirut Pine Forest. The main street of the Horsh district was named after Habib Badaro, a wealthy industrialist who had established his textile manufactures in the area. The neighborhood demographics were radically transformed in the 1960s when wealthy Syrian Christian families from Aleppo and Damascus fled their country, fearing Arabization and nationalization laws. Many of them settled in Badaro, which witnessed a boom in construction and the destruction of its pine trees forest. The neighborhood was nicknamed "Wakh Wakh" after a strange expression used by people from Aleppo and unknown to the Lebanese. Most of the buildings were built on stilts in a typical low-rise post-modern architectural style. Some of the buildings were designed by mid-century famous architects, including French designer Jean Royere. During the Lebanese civil war of 1975–1990, Badaro was a frontline Christian neighborhood, therefore, resulting in the exodus of most of its inhabitants to Europe or safer parts of the country. Nostalgia of the "dolce vita" style cosmopolitan life in Badaro in the 50s and the 60s is reflected in many books of famous French writer Richard Millet: " The Street of Badaro is an enchanted forest, every step reveals something buried (...)" Schools and Churches The greater Badaro area is home to many schools and churches from different denominations. On Damascus street, facing the Smallville hotel lies the very pleasant Syriac Catholic patriarchate, a nice palace surrounded by a peaceful garden. Further on the same street, across the Museum of Beirut crossing and next to the French embassy, one can admire the Beirut's Greek Catholic Bishop's palace, which was fully destroyed during the 1975-1990 civil war and rebuilt with the same limestone architectural style. The Sacred Heart of Jesus Maronite church is a modern construction located northwest of Sami el Solh avenue, while another Maronite church, Notre Dame of Lourdes, is located across Sami el Solh, on the south east side and is mostly attended by