Welcome to Tripoli, the capital and largest city of Libya, historically known as Tripoli-of-the-West. It sits in the north-west of the country on the edge of the desert, on a rocky point projecting into the Mediterranean and forming a bay. The city was founded in the 7th century BC by the Phoenicians, who called it Oyat, and it later passed to the Greek rulers of Cyrenaica as Oea. That long history has left many sites of archaeological importance, from a Roman arch to Ottoman-era mosques. Let us begin by the waterfront.
Red Castle of Tripoli
Photo: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBefore you rises the Red Castle, a major landmark on Tripoli's waterfront beside Martyrs' Square. Its origins may reach back to the Phoenician foundation of Oea in the 7th century BC. The castle covers about 13,000 square metres and forms an imperfect square, with several buildings and courtyards inside its walls. Here is a surprise: the castle used to stand directly on the sea, until a seafront highway built in the 1970s cut it off and created the Saraya Lake. Since 1919 it has housed a museum.
Martyrs' Square
Photo: David Holt · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsYou are now in Martyrs' Square, a downtown landmark on the bay, surrounded by the city's main commercial centre. Its name has changed with history: it was Piazza Italia under Italian colonial rule, Independence Square during the monarchy, and Green Square under the Gaddafi government. At its centre plays a large fountain designed by an Italian architect. Several avenues branch from the square, including Omar Mukhtar Avenue, one of the longest in North Africa, and Independence Street, which leads to the Palace of King Idris the First.
Arch of Marcus Aurelius
Photo: Daniel and Kate Pett · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsNear the north-eastern entrance to the Medina stands the Arch of Marcus Aurelius, a Roman triumphal arch built entirely of marble. It was erected in 165 to celebrate the victories of Lucius Verus, the emperor's adoptive brother, over the Parthians. Historians can date it so precisely because the emperor carries the title Armenicus, but not the titles he received in 166. Notice its unusual octagonal cupola, and look up at the pediments, where Apollo and Minerva, the city's patron deities, ride in chariots drawn by griffons and sphinxes.
Gurgi Mosque
Photo: Abdul-Jawad Elhusuni (عبدالجواد الحسوني) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsIn the heart of the old Medina, close to the sea and the Arch of Marcus Aurelius, stands the Gurgi Mosque. It was commissioned in 1834 by the naval captain Mustafa Gurgi, and his name means from Georgia in Arabic. The building blends European and Islamic geometric styles into a single work of art. Like the Karamanli Mosque, it brings together three parts: the mosque, a tomb and a school. To the right of the entrance, an antechamber holds the tombs of Gurgi and his family.
Karamanli Mosque
Photo: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsHere is the Karamanli Mosque, named after Ahmed Karamanli, who began building it in 1736. It is part of a larger complex with a madrasa and the tombs of members of the Karamanli dynasty, and it has entrances on three sides. Admire its ceramic tiles and marble decorations. Sadly, they were damaged when the mosque was vandalised in 2014 during the Libyan civil war, an attack condemned by UNESCO.
Sabratha
Photo: CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsAbout 70 kilometres west of Tripoli, on the Mediterranean coast, lie the ruins of Sabratha, the westernmost of the ancient three cities of Roman Tripolis, alongside Oea and Leptis Magna. Its port began, perhaps around 500 BC, as a Phoenician trading post that shipped goods from the African interior. Interestingly, its name seems to be Berber, hinting at an earlier native settlement. Sabratha later came under Carthage, then the Numidian kingdom, and finally Rome. The site became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.
Lomakuume
