Mar Mikhael is the next neighbourhood east of Gemmayzeh and has been the centre of Beirut's creative life for the past decade. Old industrial buildings have become galleries, small concept stores and craft cocktail bars; Armenia Street is the spine of the action.
Mar Mikhael was the hardest hit of any Beirut neighbourhood by the 2020 port blast, which detonated just across the road. Many businesses have reopened but the scars are still visible — broken upper storeys, plywood patches, memorials. It is still where the city's young creatives drink, eat, and gather.