Nasseef House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nasseef House or Nassif House (Arabic: بيت نصيف Bayt Nasseef) Is one of Balad's most magnificent historical palaces . Considered a symbol of Jeddah's rich past. Today, it is a cultural center where you can attend special exhibits or lectures given by history scientists.
The construction of Nasseef House began in 1872 and it was finished by 1881 for Omar Nasseef Efendi , then governor of Jeddah. This house belonged to the Nasseef family until 1975. When Muhammad Nasseef turned it into a private library that eventually accumulated 16,000 books, which could be read by anyone visiting him. Today these books belong to the central library of King Abdulaziz University.
Nasseef house has 106 rooms and the art work some of the rooms contain is admirable.[1] Besides works on wood, you can see others on tiles as well as Arabic calligraphy.
People used to recognize Nasseef house as "The House with the Tree" because it was the only house in Balad that had one. Obviously, growing a tree was not an easy task because of the scarcity of water. This hardy survivor is a the oldest tree in Jeddah.
[edit] Notes & References
- ^ DISCOVERING OLD JEDDAH : BAYT NASSIF A HISTORICAL MONUMENT
