Going back to the original

Removing the whitewash to uncover the original Arayish.

Arayish is a mixture of marble and shell powder, sugar, lime and curd; a delicate, complex and expensive recipe which unfortunately is rarely used today.

In 1999, all the columns were painted in order to hide dust and missing parts. Today, our team has found a way to clean this Arayish and we are working with supplies from local companies to fill the gaps.

First, a solution is created with 10% of ammonium carbonate and 5% of bisodic salt (EDTA) diluted in water. We apply this solution to the columns with compresses. After half an hour, the paint softens and can be removed with wooden spatulas.

The upcoming step will be cleaning this Arayish to reveal the beauty of these columns.