Tripoli, or Tarabalus Al-Gharb (Tripoli of the West in Arabic), is the major city and de facto capital of Libya. The climate of Tripoli is Mediterranean with hot dry summers, cool winters and some modest rainfall. Weather can be variable, influenced by the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea which moderates daily temperature ranges.
The old walled city of Tripoli, the Medina, is one of the classical sites of the Mediterranean. The basic street plan was laid down in the Roman period when the walls were constructed on the landward sides against attacks from the interior of Tripolitania. The high walls survived many invasions, each conqueror restoring the damage done. In the 8th century the Muslim ruler built a wall on the sea-facing side of the city. Three great gates gave access to the town, Bab Zanata on the west, Bab Hawara on the south east and Bab Al-Bahr in the north wall.

The castle, Al-Saraya Al-Hamra, occupies a site known to be pre-Roman in the east quadrant of the old city and still dominates the skyline of Tripoli. Any tour of the old city should begin at the castle, entered from the land side near Suq Al-Mushir. It houses a library and a well-organized museum and has excellent views over the city from the walls. The Castle Museum is essentially concerned with the archaeology and ancient history of Libya. It covers the Phoenician, Greek and Roman periods well and has an expanding collection of materials on the Islamic period.

The old city has several key elements worth visiting. The old city walls are still standing and can be climbed. The Harbour Monument stands at the gates of the old city on the edge of the former corniche road adjacent to the castle. There are a number of restored houses, consulates and a synagogue in the narrow streets of the old city.

There are a number of interesting mosques including the Karamanli Mosque, the En-Naqah Mosque and the Gurgi Mosque both in the old town and adjacent to it. The best known of the Tripoli mosques is the Gurgi Mosque with its elegant architecture. It was built comparatively recently in 1833 by Yussef Gurgi. If the traveller wishes to view just one of Tripoli's mosques, the Gurgi Mosque is the one to choose.

Modern Tripoli spilled out from the tight confines of the old city as early as the 18th century and possibly before that. The main commercial streets lie in the centre. Most lead off Green Square in front of the castle. All street names are in Arabic but Libyans will assist in giving directions. Walking around Tripoli centre is straight forward. For a tour of the modern city on foot begin in Green Square and travel West along Sharah Omar Mukhtar to see the private business district. Turn round at the Tripoli Fair building and return to Green Square from which go due South down Sharah Mohammed Magarief towards the post office and former cathedral. From the post office square (Maidan Al-Jaza'er) either turn directly right to Sharah Tahiti and thence right again into one of the commercial thorough-fares with small Arab lock-up shops or go on past the post office towards the People's Palace and thence right to the harbor front and back towards the Green Square. This itinerary shows the best if the modern city.

Leptis Magna, an ancient city along the Mediterranean Sea, located near the modern-day city of Al Khums in Libya. The city began as a trading port for the ancient people of Phoenicia around 1000 BC and then became part of the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis. Lepcis was the most easterly of the three cities that gave the North African region of Tripolitania its name.

The city grew as a prosperous trading center, but raids by desert tribes began in the 4th century AD and the city was virtually abandoned by the 8th century. Lepcis Magna was associated with the Roman Empire for more than 600 years beginning in the 2nd century BC. During that time many buildings were constructed using Roman architectural styles. These Roman structures, well preserved under sand for centuries, have made the city an important area for archaeological study since the 1920s. Lepcis Magna was also known as the birthplace of Roman emperor Lucius Septimius Severus (AD 146-221).

Lepcis Magna, which was located on a natural harbor protected by islands along the North African coast, began as a Phoenician trading post. In the 6th century BC Carthage became the dominant Phoenician colony and gradually took control of other Phoenician areas in North Africa, including Lepcis Magna. In 202 BC the Romans defeated Carthage in the Second Punic War. Emperor Trajan made Lepcis a colonia, a Roman colony with full Roman citizenship rights for the city’s population, in AD 109. The first Roman senator from Lepcis Magna began to serve in the early 2nd century.

During the Roman period, Lepcis 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. Olive cultivation added so much to the town’s prosperity that in 46 BC the Roman ruler Julius Caesar imposed an annual tax of three million pounds of oil on Lepcis. Inscriptions and literary sources attest to the wealth of the Lepcis Magna elite, who supported the continuing growth of the city.

Late in the 1st century BC, a quarry was opened at Ras el-Hammam south of Lepcis Magna that yielded an exceptionally fine, hard limestone used to build most of the town’s later structures. In AD 120 the people of Lepcis Magna built an aqueduct to carry water. In later years they also completed luxurious baths on the model of the imperial baths in Rome, a large circus or racetrack, and other public buildings.A major period of construction occurred during the reign of Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus, which began in 193. Septimius Severus was born in Lepcis Magna. He honored his place of birth by funding an ambitious building program that included a magnificent new forum and a richly decorated four-way arch marking the intersection of the city’s two main streets. He also built a new enclosed harbor linked to the city center by a broad street nearly 366 m (1201 ft) in length and lined with colonnades. Severus visited Lepcis Magna in 203 and marked the occasion by announcing significant tax exemptions.

By the 4th century, the desert tribes of North Africa had grown strong, and they raided the territory around Lepcis Magna. Initially, the city’s fortified walls saved it from being plundered. Roman authority in North Africa had grown so weak, however, that the Roman governor in the region would not help unless the city provided camels and provisions for his army.In 365 an earthquake damaged Lepcis Magna severely, but the greatest blow to the city’s prosperity came with the invasion of a Germanic tribe called the Vandals about 455. By 534 Lepcis Magna had become part of the Byzantine Empire. During this period of upheaval, much of Lepcis Magna was abandoned. By the time Arabs controlled the region in 642, the city was almost empty.Because most of the Lepcis Magna’s fortified walls had been destroyed, the city was covered by sand over time. In the dry desert climate, the ruins of Lepcis Magna were preserved by these sand dunes. Between 1920 and World War II (1939-1945), when Libya was an Italian colony, Italian authorities began to excavate the city. After the war, the British continued work at the site and since that time have discovered many well-preserved Roman remains.

Archaeological excavations in Lepcis Magna have unearthed several layers of ruins that show various periods of occupation at the site. Underneath the remains of a large theater built in the 1st century AD is a cemetery probably dating from the 4th or 3rd century BC. Particularly well-preserved are 2nd- and early 3rd-century Roman buildings that include the elaborate Hadrianic Baths as well the remains of the forum and basilica erected during the era of Emperor Septimius Severus. The 3rd-century Hunting Baths, named for a fresco, are also in remarkable condition. More recent discoveries have included a Roman house with an extensive underground water system that provides new glimpses into the everyday life of residents of Lepcis Magna.

While most of the ruins here now, are far younger than those belonging to the Garamantian Empire, you will find a fort, and a number of normal houses at Garama. Up the hill from Garama, the even older Zinchecra is found. This was used as a burial site, after the inhabitants of Garama moved down to the river, probably an expression of increased safety and strength. The city did originally get its water from a natural spring here, and credible stories tell of a large lake as well. The spring still exist, but of the lake, only salt beds are left behind.

In Germa, ancient houses, temples and baths carry the distinguished designs of the different civilizations that existed in this land: ancient Egyptian, Carthaginian, Greek and Roman. Other ruins in Germa suggest civilizations in the area dating back to 5000 B.C., suchj as that of Acacus , as evidenced by the colored drawings in the nearby mountains.

The Garamantes, with the help of their neighboring tribes, resisted the Roman influence. Their armies reached the fringes of Leptis Magna, hundreds of kilometers to the North. Peaceful relations were not realized until the end of the 2nd century A.D., at the time of Libyan born Emperor Septimius Severus (193 - 211 A.D.).

The museum in Tripoli (Al Matthaf Al Jamahiri) exhibits the various masterpieces and collections discovered in the area, where the earliest finds date back to the first millennium B.C.

Ghadames is 640 km southwest of Tripoli. There are at least two buses a day from Tripoli, passing via Nalut. Ghadames is very much the legendary oasis town, even though the population has moved out of the labyrinthine old town into new modern housing areas. Exploring the twon and oasis is a pleasant day, and with four wheel drive could do a day trip out to the dunes.

Located close the point where the international frontiers of Libya, Algeria and Tunisia join, modern Ghadames has an estimated population of around 10000. The residential area is divided into the old and new towns. The old town is situated within the oasis whereas the new town has been built on the dry slopes above the oasis. The old town has been uninhabited since 1986. The old town has not been simply abandoned and still plays an important role in the life of the inhabitants. In hottest days of the summer, the inhabitants of the new city return to their original quarters in search of shade and cool.

Tourism is gaining importance and Ghadames now has a three day tourist festival held annually in October to coincide with the date harvest. There are displays of local traditions and horsemanship.

Ghadames stands still as one of the most valuable spots in Libya for the traveller. Here you'll find a tranquil old city, with covered streets that are both dark and with far lower temperatures than what you find outdoors. And of course, the colour chosen, is white. Ghadames represents popular engineering, and is the result of a complex knowledge on how to deal with extreme temperatures. The positioning of the houses are far from casual. Every angle, every wall, every opening in the roofs over the alleyways, are parts of the same organism.

Even if Ghadames still stands, the people have moved out of it, into the modern settlement nearby. They still take refuge in the old city when summer becomes unbearable. But with the locals out, and their dwindling knowledge on structuring of houses with natural air conditioning, an important science could be lost.

In earlier days, the life line of Ghadames was trade through the Sahara, including slavery. Today the 10,000 people here make a living out of agriculture. Tourism could and should revive, and become even greater than it was in the colonial period.

From a difficult natural environment, the old Ghadames created perfect living conditions for isolated settlement in a harsh natural environment. The houses, built of pise bricks, lime, palm tree trunks and fronds, the only available building materials are elegant and practical. Built on two stories they have a central room of the first floor acting as a kind of courtyard with all the rooms leading off it. The rooms are lit by an ingenious hole in the high ceiling letting in sunlight that reflects off the white walls and provides sufficient illumination. The upper floors are supported by palm tree trunks covered with fronds and mud.

Ghat is almost as far away as you can get, and you should try to get here. The old city is found on a hillside, but as many other places in Libyan Sahara, people don't live there anymore. Ghat was earlier a part of the trans-Saharan route going through Ghadames and Tripoli, but then again that is history now.

Ghat became part of French territory after the Tuareg making up the population in this area, made several attacks into Algeria around the turn of this century. The result is that some people here still understand French.

When visiting the old city, it is the mosque you should look out for first. It's everything but splendid, but do represent an in-between architecture, with part of the North African, and the soft mosque-style to be found in the southern fringes of Sahara. Ghat is also a place to stay when you visit the beautiful Acacus mountains, not among the highest in Sahara, but highly competitive, seen from a visitor's point of view, with other ranges in Algeria and Morocco for example.

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 gives 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.

Sabrata prospered in the third century AD as a trading place for the Ivory coming from central Africa, through Ghadames and Fezzan. The Vandals who invaded North Africa from Europe abandoned it after its destruction. In 533 AD the Byzantines occupied the city and rebuilt most of it noticeably, the church of Justinian with its fine decorated mosaic floors. Amongst the walls and foundations of public buildings discovered in the city, are the market, tribunal and some temples. Among the most prominent features of the city during Roman times are the public arenas, the Temples of Liber Pater, Sirapis, Isis, and Hercules, the forum, the theatre, the tribunal arena, and the public paths. Ruins of the earliest Phoenician settlements have been found beneath the Roman town in the area between the forum and the Sea.

The main monument is the Amphitheatre, used in modern times as a theatre and concert hall. There is a variety of public baths, temples and fountains, with many first class mosaics both on site and in the adjacent Museum, Some Byzantine remains are on show to exemplify the revival after the Vandal invasions.

Al Bayda might not be much intended on tourism, but it happens to be the best base for those exploring the great ruins of Cyrene, Apollonia, and Slonta. And the town is nice enough. It has a number of colonial-style buildings, and an influential Islamic university. The religious importance of Al Bayda runs back to it being the centre of the Sanussiyy movement, which has had central formative importance for modern Libya.

Shahat is approximately 220 k.m. east from Benghazi . It was the capital of pentapolis , and the 2nd important city in the ancient world after of course Athens . It’s an archeological city that has lots of Greek remains.
The city of Cyrene (Shahat) is situated on the remains of the ancient city of "Kurena", which is just an Arabic name of Cyrene. Its height is 621 meters above sea-level. The site is rich in archaeological monuments .

The story Cyrene as a colonial of Greek immigrants from the island of Thera (modern Santorin) had been mentioned as a mixture of legends, heard traditional stories and historical facts .This event date is nearly, 631 B. C. It seems that toward the middle of the seventh century B.C. an event caused a crisis due to over population which arose in the small Aegean island plus a seven-year period of drought giving rise to distress that forced emigration. The immigrants came to Libya through the Gulf of Bomba (In VT has been mentioned as Bamba).

Pindar, the ancient Greek poet, described it in one of his odes as ''the city built on a gold crown".
Cyrenaicans , as well as Athena’s people love science ,and philosophy. Famous philosophers of Cyrene were Callimachus, Carneader and Aristippus. The Kingdom of Cyrene reached its grandeur about 400 B.C.

During its settlement, the city waged war on two fronts, one war was launched against the Libyans, the owners of the country, while the other war was pointed against Carthage. However, the two wars ended in reconciliation and peace among the belligerents. In the fourth century. Cyrene acknowledged the reign of the Ptolemais, the successors of Alexander the Great, and later on the reign of the Roman Empire.

The Jewish Rebellion in Cyrene
During the reign of Emperor Tarjan in (115-116) A.D. an extensive Jewish rebellion broke out in Cyrene. It was cruelly quelled and most of the public buildings were destroyed, resulting the decline of life in the entire city. Cvrenaica was then in a sorry state after the quelling of this uprising. Both cities were half-destroyed by the revolt.

The Emperor Justinian (A.D. 527-565 ) was active in city restoration throughout his shaky reign . He then ordered the repair of the aqueduct of Ptolemais, a measure which brought some small gasp of life back to that city; and at Berenice new public baths were constructed. Special care was equally devoted to the fortifications of the towns, and fortresses in the outlying areas, including Antipyrgos (Tobruk) and Boreurm (near Minaa Brega in the Syrtic region).

The city is then invaded as long as the whole Cyrenaican area , by the Arab Muslim army led by Amr bin al-as who expulsed the Roman existence from the area , and from the whole north Africa. That was in the time of Heraculs

Shahat today
Shahat today is a small town on the green mountain , very close to the remains of the great city Cyrene.
It's officially belongs to Albaydha .
It's famous of agriculture . Fruits , espicially apples, grapes , and so on are grown there.
Visitors of Shahat usually spend there nights in Albaydha which is the largest city in Aljabal Alakhder , 18 km from Shahat.

The city of Sousa was known as Apollonia during the Greco-Roman era. It is located on the Mediterranean coast, 20 KM North of Shahat (Cyrene), and is connected to the latter by a road excavated in the rocky ground of the area, and improved during Roman times. Apollonia served as a port for the city of Cyrene, when the once well-known silphium plant was exported. By the end of the 6th century A.D., its importance exceeded that of Cyrene and Ptolemais..

Visitors to this area will certainly enjoy the fine weather and the Mediterranean beach, as well as the Greek, Roman and Byzantine ruins. The Greek theatre, the Roman baths and the Byzantine Palace (which served as a government building in the 6th century A.D.) are few examples.

The old Greek port of Apollonia, has both the ruins and the village of Susa, as attractions. While modernisation of Libya, has reduced the number of traditional settlement, Susa still holds a lot of the past. Much of Apollonia has disappeared, due to landslides.

Apollonia served as the port of Cyrene, and the landscape between the two sites would alone defend the detour out here. Apollonia is a Greek settlement that is very much formed according to the topography, with a beach cut by rugged rocks, inland from it there are hills, all giving Apollonia a very nice setting. Apollonia has several churches, a small theatre carved into the rocks, public baths. Best preserved of Apollonia, are the walls.

The museum of Apollonia is small and friendly, but there will be more exhibited here when excavations of Apollonia are more completed. Still the acropolis remains unexcavated. There are also underwater ruins, that can only be explored by getting a trip with a local boat.

Cyrene. The most important Greek city in North Africa, Cyrene located east of Al-Bayda 22 km was founded in the 7th-century B.C. and it would be difficult to find a better site of Greek ruins than Cyrene. In 96 BC the Romans took possession of Cyrenaica, and it became a province of Rome eighteen years later.

 

The city was part of the 1st-century five-city state of Pentapolis and was second in size only to Athens. It enjoyed a period of peace until a Jewish revolt in 115 AD caused widespread destruction. Following reconstruction of the city, principally under the Emperor Hadrian, Cyrene again entered a period of prosperity. In 365 A.D., during the Byzantine period, an earthquake destroyed much of the city. A grand rebuilding program took place, although former places of pagan worship were desecrated, including the great Temple of Zeus.

Built on a series of levels, the spectacular ruins of Cyrene are only partially excavated and, as you walk, you may actually discover a mosaic or statue appearing from beneath the sand. The Temple of Apollo is of principal interest ?it was built as early as 7th-century B.C., and rebuilt three centuries later. Nearby is the Fountain of Apollo, whose water was used for curing and treatments. The Great Baths are in exceptional condition, and inside the Grand Hall, the pipes leading water from the Fountain of Apollo, are still visible. The theatre is Roman, but its foundations and style are Greek. The setting is stunning; hills fall away behind the stage and present a dramatic view that stretches out to the sea.

Yefren has everything going for it the day Libya loosens up for more tourism. Situated in an area of the Jibal Nafusa with scenic forests, the old yefren is perched on a crag. Resembling some other Berber villages in neighbour Tunisia, yefren holds enough structures to invite for an exploration lasting several hours. This area is one of strong impressions and colours, with fresh red soil, and thriving agriculture.

To some extent even the modern village of yefren is worth a visit, as the people have been adorning their house doors and walls.

There are many places to explore nearby yefren, a couple of old mosques, the village of Al Ghala (4 km to the north), and the modest but interesting Roman ruins of Safit (18 km north). Tasmirayt is very attractive with its setting in between the mountains. The staff at the hostel will be helpful with getting you to these places, and more if you like, and the costs will be very low.

With Nalut the Jibal Nafusa really comes to an end, but Nalut is one of the places in the mountains that is most rewarding to visit. The entire town is situated on an escarpment with a great view in eastern direction. The old town has a huge kasr, more than 300 years old, which was used mainly for storing and protecting grain and oil. The kasr is made up of 400 chambers or ghurfas. The mosque, Alala, is even older.

Nalut is now being turned into a centre for desert travelling, where still the majority of travellers are Libyans.