Inaugurated in 1884, the Petit Serail was the seat of Beirut's governor general in 1888 and hosted the Lebanese government and president during the French Mandate.

In the later half of the nineteenth century, the Beiruti authorities thought to move the seat of governorship from the decaying Emir Assaf saray also called Dar al-Wilaya (House of the Vilayet).

[1][2][3] On 11 September 1840, the British fleet bombarded Beirut to evacuate Ibrahim Pasha's troops from the city and damaged the old saray in the process.

The new structure was commissioned by Beirut mayor Ibrahim Fakhri Bey, construction began in 1881 at the site of a former saray that was ordered demolished by the Wali Hamdi Pasha.

Hamdi Pasha took up a loan form the Ottoman Bank, mortgaged public buildings and imposed new taxes in order to furnish the new serail's offices.

[6][9] Under the French Mandate, urban planner De La Halle planned the enlargement of the al-Bourj Square and the building of a new governmental office complex.

[7] Solidere destroyed the Rivoli and Regent Hotel buildings in the 1990s,[7] and consequent excavations revealed the foundations of the Petit Serail which will be preserved inside the planned underground Beirut City History Museum.

[10][11] The Serail was built to serve as the seat of the Vilayet of Syria; it housed municipal and provincial offices including Beirut's judicial court.

A crenelated cornice ran the entire surface of the roof complete with bartizans flanking the corners; a layout reminiscent of Medieval European castles.