Tripoli

Tripoli: An Interesting City to Visit

In Roman days Tripoli was called Oea. The new name comes from the three Roman cities of Oea, Sabratha and Leptis Magna known collectively by Romans as the Tripolis (three cities). Although already important in Roman days it fell into disrepair after the Vandals conquered this area of North Africa.
Over the following centuries it came under the rule of Byzantium, the Arabs, Normans, Spanish and the Knights of St John of Malta. The old town (medina) as it is seen now came to be in Ottoman times. When the Italians took over the town in 1911 it began to grow rapidly.

Throughout most of its history it has been the gateway to sub-Saharan Africa and an important start or end point of many trading caravan routes. The colourful old town (medina) bustles with life and blends into the modern avenues, all of which are a joy to wander through. If time allows a visit to the National Jamahiriya museum is highly recommended.
There are a variety of hotels in Tripoli ranging from very expensive five star hotels to much more basic ones. Care must be taken in choosing a hotel - lack of competition led to management apathy but the situation is changing rapidly for the better.

There are many good restaurants and snack bars near the town centre and the food is generally of a good quality. No special care need be taken over drinks or salads. The water in Tripoli comes from very pure "Great Man Made River" water.

Walking around Tripoli is safe, even at night. As a rule the atmosphere in the town is very friendly and there is almost no harassment by salesmen.

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Leptis Magna - The Roman Empire of Africa

Leptis Magna is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is one of the best preserved and most extensive Roman cities in the world.

Founded by Phoenicians about 1,000 BC, Leptis Magna became a Punic city and, after the defeat of Carthage by the Roman Empire, became one of the great harbour cities of Roman North Africa.

Siding with Pompey the Great in Rome’s civil wars, Leptis was required by Julius Caesar to pay a heavy annual tribute to Rome in its most exportable product - 3 million pounds of olive oil.

During the Roman period, Leptis was the Mediterranean outlet of a trade route through the Sahara into the interior of Africa. Its economy was based on agriculture, and some of its products, particularly olives, became profitable trade items.

Leptis Magna was enlarged and embellished by Septimius Severus, who was born there and later became emperor. It was one of the most beautiful cities of the Roman Empire, with its imposing public monuments, harbour, market-place, storehouses, shops and residential districts
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Sabratha

In Roman times the Tripolitania province had three cities, called Tripolis, Leptis Magna, Oea (now the modern Tripolis) and Sabratha. Sabratha was to a large extent the one with least wealth, yet there are structures here that give a lot of sense to the idea of visiting it. Sabratha was constructed in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, but it did survive longer than its big brother, Leptis Magna. As is the case with many ancient cities in North Africa, it was the arrival of the Arabs, that resulted in the final decline.

The theatre is the main attraction, and it appears in excellent condition today. It is even used now as an arena for theatre and concerts. Sabratha has several public baths, temples, fountains, mosaics. The museum is a must, and has an extensive exhibition of everything from statues to small coins.

The town of Sabratha has grown up in between the ruins, adding a special charm to the place. Passing through Sabratha, form the town, you end up at the long beaches, making Sabratha an excellent place to stay for a couple of days.

Ghadames - The Pearl of the Desert

Ghadames is recognized for its beautiful and inventive architecture, designed to fight the dramatic extremes in Saharan climate.

All houses are made out of mud, lime, and palm tree trunks. They are constructed so that all intersect, with covered alleyways between them, and attached roofs above them, allowing passage from one house to another.

It is worth noting that there is a legend about how the name of "GHADAMES" had been so framed. It si said that once upon a time a caravan passed through a valley where they had their own much

After they had packed their belongings and left the spot, one member of the caravan noticed the missing of the cooking utensils. Then he said, '' We forget them at "GHADAMES" (He meant : We left them at Yesterday's lunch". i.e. where they had their lunch.

The inhabitants of Ghadames, (Cydamae in the Roman times), are the Touareg lovers of freedom and liberty. This oasis, in the far Southwest of Tripoli, has seen lover of pleasant evening talk, and recreation, and pleasant seekers. People loved to hear the still of the night being broken by the music of a simple cane flute: or to attend the scene of a curtain of silence being lifted by the artistic fingers of a Bedouin woman playing a beautiful tune on strings attached to a small leather-coated drum: or the uproar of a tumuli on the dance ring with the songs of the Touareg. (Singular Targui).

In Arabic '' GHADA" means hunch and "AMS" means in Arabic "Yesterday " Therefore, - GHA-DAMES - means yesterday lunch. But it is by chance, the Roman name "Gyadamae" has been transformed to "Ghadames".
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Cyrene

Cyrene, the ancient Greek city was the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region and gave eastern Libya the classical name 'Cyrenaica' that it has retained to modern times. It lies in a lush valley in the Jebel Akhdar uplands. It was named after a spring, Kyre, which the Greeks consecrated to Apollo.
Cyrene was founded as a colony of the Greeks of Thera, traditionally led by Aristotle (later called Battus) of Thera, about 630 BC.
Cyrenaica became part of the empire controlled by the Ptolemaic dynasty from Alexandria in Egypt and later passed to the Roman empire. Cyrene was the birthplace of Eratosthenes and there are a number of philosophers associated with the city including Callimachus, Carneades, Aristippus and Arete, and Synesius, bishop of Ptolemais in the 4th century CE.
The inhabitants of Cyrene at the time of Sulla (c. 85 BC) were divided into four classes: citizens, farmers, resident aliens, and Jews, who formed a restless minority.
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