Tripoli

Baths at Leptis Magna Berber storage Col Qadhafi Cyrene Derna Ghadames Ghadames dancers Ghadames Museum Ghadames Sundown Lathrun Leptis Magna Leptis ruins Man Made River Qasr Roman Villa Sabratha Tobruk Tripoli Tripolil Museum

Tripoli

 

Ancient sketch of Tripoli Medina, Fortress and Harbor

Tripoli (city, Libya) (Arabic Þarâbulus; ancient Oea), capital of Libya, on the Mediterranean Sea, in the northwestern part of the country. It is the largest city, a principal seaport, and the leading commercial and manufacturing center of Libya.

 

As-Saha al-Kradrah (Green Square)
balcony from which Mussolini reviewed troops during the Italian occupation

Major manufactures include processed food, textiles, clothing, construction materials, and tobacco products. Tripoli International Airport is nearby. Tripoli is the site of Alfateh University; colleges of arts and crafts, electronics, technology, and telecommunications; the National Archives, with a large collection of documents relating to the history of Tripolitania; and the Government Library.

 

entrance to the Medina

Points of interest include the Natural History Museum; the Archaeological Museum; the Ethnographic Museum, with a collection of regional cultural artifacts; the Epigraphy Museum, containing inscriptions from the Phoenician, Roman, and Byzantine periods; the Islamic Museum; a Roman triumphal arch erected in honor of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd century; the Karamanli and the Gurgi mosques; and a Spanish fortress dating from the 16th century.

 

Courtyard of the Castle
(a large part of which is now the Nation Museum)
was the quarters of successive Turkish governors

Photos from the National Museum

The settlement was probably established by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC as Oea. When Libya was granted independence in 1951, Tripoli and Benghazi became co capitals of the country; Tripoli was made the sole capital in the early 1970s. Since 1963 revenues from foreign petroleum sales have greatly contributed to the development of the city. Population 1.8 million (1996).

Text by Microsoft Encarta

St. George guarding the Castle

horizontal rule

Photos from the Medina

 

minaret

 

clothing shop in the souq
(the low prices for clothing here in the souqs give rise to many people
carrying bundles of clothing across the border to Tunisia)

 

women selling jewelry in the
"impromptu souq"

 

carpet hanging to close off street for private family celebration

 

Arch of Marcus Aurilius
AD 163-164

horizontal rule

Mosque of Mustafa Gurji Pasha

 

entrance

 

outer chamber

 

balcony for female worshipers

 

mihrab
(niche facing Mecca)

 

minbar
(from which instruction is given during Friday prayers)

The tomb of Mustapha Gurgi (a Tripoli Naval Captain) and his family

 are in the antechamber seen through the window.
 

men between prayers

horizontal rule

Baths at Leptis Magna Berber storage Col Qadhafi Cyrene Derna Ghadames Ghadames dancers Ghadames Museum Ghadames Sundown Lathrun Leptis Magna Leptis ruins Man Made River Qasr Roman Villa Sabratha Tobruk Tripoli Tripolil Museum

Return to Libya page

Benin Botswana Cameroon Congo Egypt Ethiopia Gabon the Gambia Ghana Ivory Coast Kenya Libya Lesotho Mali Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zanzibar Zimbabwe

World Heritage Mosaics Roman World Africa Antarctica Asia Atlantic Islands Australia Caribbean Central America Europe Indian Ocean Middle East North America Pacific Islands South America The Traveler Recent Adventures Adventure Travel

 

Return to People and Places

horizontal rule