KUWAIT: When hearing the name "Bayan Palace", we all imagine the prestigious palace built in the era of the late Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in Bayan. However, the current palace derived its name from another older place also named "Bayan Palace", built by former ruler Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in 1931. The palace was given the name Bayan Palace since it was located on a higher land overlooking its surrounding area.

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber used the place as a getaway during springtime. According to the "Kuwait's Letter" book written by Ayoub Hussein and published by the Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait, the palace consisted of three sections. The first included the diwan or council, mosque, maids' rooms, room of the Amir's secretary and children's rooms that were occupied by Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and the current Amir HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

The second section included rooms of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber and his sister Sheikha Mariam Al-Jaber and the kitchen, while the third section held the guards' residences. As for the palace's location, the book noted that it was south of Hawally, which was then visited by Kuwaitis in springtime. It added that the palace overlooks all of Hawally's houses and surrounding lands.

The number of Hawally residents only increased after the palace was built, writer Hussein said, adding that people used to go to the palace's mosque for Friday prayers. The author noted that the palace was abandoned after the death of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber in 1950 and it was torn down by 1960 to be replaced by Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital. - KUNA