The Soap Museum (, also called the Audi Soap Museum) is a museum based in a historic soap factory in Sidon, Lebanon specialized in Levantine soaps. It opened in November 2000 and is managed by the Audi Foundation.The Soap Museum ( Audi Foundation , Visitsaida.com
History The soap workshop was originally built in Sidon by the Hammoud family in the 17th century. During the 19th century (around 1880), the Audi family became the owner of the soap workshop and turned it into a family residence. It was abandoned in the 1980s when the Lebanon War broke out, and the ground floor was occupied by refugees.Celebrating local craftsmanship, Mindthegap.com, Retrieved 23 June 2025Eric Calderwood, Soaping up, Aramcoworld.com, July/August 2010, Retrieved 23 June 2025 In 1996, the Audi Family started to restore the building. The Soap Museum opened in November 2000 and Raymond Audi launched the Audi Foundation, to promote craftmanship in Lebanon.Rami Daher, Tourism in the Middle East: Continuity, Change, and Transformation, Multilingual Matters, 2007
In November 2019, the museum opened a gift shop in Beyrouth selling luxury olive oil soaps. La Boutique du Musée du Savon de Saida a ouvert un point de vente à Beyrouth, Achrafieh., Audifoundation.org, 26 November 2019
Description
The Soap Museum traces the history of soap making in the region, its development, and manufacturing techniques.
A historical section of the museum introduces artifacts which were found during onsite excavation. The Museum building is an old soap factory built in the 17th century, although containing parts thought to date back to the 13th century.
The Audi Foundation is headquartered at the Soap Museum.Audi Foundation, Arab.org, Retrieved 23 June 2025 The foundation works with the Mahmud al-Sharkass and his family, who have been making soap for seven generations, to craft luxury soaps sold in the museum's gift shop. Mahmud is able to make around 100 soaps by hand every day, which are made from olive oil and laurel oil.
Bibliography The Olive Oil Soap - The Soap Museum, Fondation Audi, 2003
References
External links Audi Foundation website