Should it be preserved as a reminder, or rebuilt to help Kabul move forward?

Darul Aman Palace is a magnificent structure, even its current decrepit state. It sits on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, one of the world’s fastest-growing cities. The neoclassical building is surrounded by unkempt Venetian-style gardens and there are several large holes in the walls, created over the years as more than 100 delicately cast windows were blown out. The palace has become the center of a debate over the extent to which symbols of Afghanistan's turbulent history should be preserved. “I pass this palace every day on my way to work. It hurts me to look at it,” says Hikmat Noori, a young professional from Kabul. “It is time we move forward and away from our dark days. Why should we have to relive the actions of our aggressors?”

Darul Aman Palace is a magnificent structure, even its current decrepit state. It sits on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, one of the world’s fastest-growing cities. The neoclassical building is surrounded by unkempt Venetian-style gardens and there a
Darul Aman Palace is a magnificent structure, even its current decrepit state. It sits on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, one of the world’s fastest-growing cities. The neoclassical building is surrounded by unkempt Venetian-style gardens and there a

Once referred to as the “Versailles of Afghanistan,” it was built in a period when all anyone could foresee for the country was decades of economic prosperity and regional supremacy. King Amanullah Khan commissioned the palace in 1920 during a spree to modernize the country. The name Darul Aman, which literally translates to “a place for peace” in Dari, was meant to convey the direction Afghanistan was headed in.

Nearly a century later, the palace has become a quiet testimony to the decades of war and conflict that have ravaged Afghanistan. The crumbling ruins still reflect a little of the original structure’s part-European, part-Persian architecture. Its walls bear hundreds of bullet holes, telltale reminders of the many conflicts it has seen.

....In 1969, a massive fire gutted the building. It was restored and became home to the country’s defense ministry until it was attacked once again by Soviet forces during the coup d’état of 1978. A little more than a decade later, the palace became a frontline in the civil war between various Afghan warlords as they fought for control of Kabul. It continued to deteriorate in the ’90s, during the Taliban’s regime—who may not have inflicted any damage to it but did nothing to preserve what remained of Darul Aman Palace, either. In 2005, after the Taliban’s fall, plans were announced to turn it into a house of Parliament but those didn’t develop; in 2012, it became a target of a resurgent Taliban.

In 1969, a massive fire gutted the building. It was restored and became home to the country’s defense ministry until it was attacked once again by Soviet forces during the coup d’état of 1978. A little more than a decade later, the palace became a frontline in the civil war between various Afghan warlords as they fought for control of Kabul. It continued to deteriorate in the ’90s, during the Taliban’s regime—who may not have inflicted any damage to it but did nothing to preserve what remained of Darul Aman Palace, either. In 2005, after the Taliban’s fall, plans were announced to turn it into a house of Parliament but those didn’t develop; in 2012, it became a target of a resurgent Taliban.