Al-Ghussein house is a historical building from the late Ottoman period located in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. In 2020, Goethe-Institut Palestinian Territories initiated the reconstruction of the historical landmark to preserve it as an outstanding example of the rich cultural and architectural Palestinian heritage.
There are numerous historical buildings in the Gaza strip, some of them going back as far as the Mamluk period, but many of them are in danger of decay due to the omnipresent social and political crises. One of these buildings was the villa of the Al-Ghussein family built in the late Ottoman period in the 18th century. The architectural landmark, which was inhabited by the English consul during the British mandate, was demolished and finally left and abandoned a decade ago.
The renovation of the historical building started in July 2020 and was initiated by Goethe-Institut Ramallah in cooperation with our local partners Riwaq and Iwan and funded by the Auswärtiges Amt - German Federal Foreign Office.
During the construction work, which was implemented by Brand Company for Contraction and General Trading and supervised by Iwan, a local group of engineers was trained by Iwan and Riwaq, enabling them to gain practical knowledge on site as well as insights into supervision and technical details on traditional restoration. In a vibrant process, defined by the endless motivation and commitment of the local workers and the institutions involved, all participating parties rose to the occasion and managed to rebuilt the Al-Ghussein house in all its traditional picturesque beauty.
