Baabda

Baabda () is the capital city of Baabda District as well as the capital of Mount Lebanon Governorate, western Lebanon. Baabda was the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon. Baabda is known for the Ottoman Castle (the serail) and it has many embassies (Italian, Japanese, Jordanian, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Indonesian, Spanish ... ), the Ministry of Defense and many important organization and administrative centres in Lebanon.
Baabda Palace, residence of the President of Lebanon is also located in Baabda. The palace was built in 1956 on a hill in the mountain town of Baabda overlooking the Lebanese capital, Beirut. The first President to reside in it was President Charles Helou (25 September 1913 – 7 January 2001)