Monday and Tuesday, Tripoli was under lockdown. All businesses were closed and school was out. This was due to the African/European Union Summit. Apparently, most of the leaders of Europe and Africa were in town for this event, and for safety concerns, everything was shut down. This was really frustrating, because (1) I finally had time to sightsee, and everything to see was closed and (2) Everything was closed for a reason that in no way affects me. Being genetically predisposed for self-centeredness, I found this very annoying. How dare they try to promote peace/better their economies/discuss pressing political matters when I had places to go?? So, unfortunately, Monday and Tuesday were just two more days of down time. Sheesh, inconsiderate world leaders over here, huh? (In light of the recent events in Libya, I realize just how true this statement is...)
Anyways, yesterday, we went to the oldest part of Tripoli, fully intending to go to Libya’s Jamahiriya Museum. However, my wonderful husband overslept (because it was most definitely not my fault!) and we didn’t arrive until 12:15. The museum actually closes at 1, so we decided to save it for another day, and just walked around a little. The building that the museum is in was built in the 16th century by Spaniards and housed the Turkish government. I don’t understand why the Spanish built it if it was only going to become someone else’s headquarters, but, hey, I guess this is why I don’t make these kinds of decisions.
The building basically looks like a huge stone fort, which fits, because it’s built on an old Roman castrum, or fortified camp. It’s called the Red Castle, and is supposedly a labyrinth of alleys and courtyards. The museum itself contains all kinds of artifacts, from prehistoric to current times. I’m really excited about the actual trip to the museum, because it’s been called one of the top museums in the world (yay!), and by numerous websites, so I‘m hoping that this isn‘t some propaganda just to get locals to go. They have cave drawings (from the mountains between Libya and Algeria), lots of Roman artifacts (from Sabratha and Leptis Magna), even the old VW beetle of the current president (whose name I really can’t spell, and apparently, neither can anyone else). The Red Castle is located in the Green Square, which is where a lot of important speech-making goes on, and kind of the center of activity for anything in Tripoli.
Outside the Red Castle
This is all about to get confusing, so I’m going to try to break down the history of Tripoli in layman’s terms, and from what I can piece together on the internet. It’s a bit confusing and overwhelming, as there’s a lot of conflicting information out there, but I’ll do my best to explain it accurately. The first knowledge of Tripoli being inhabited is the 7th century BC, established by the Phoenicians, who named it Oea. However, archeologists think (due to the name, which I have yet to find a meaning for) that it was actually built on top of an already established community. Tripoli (and two other cities, named below) was a province under Carthage rule until 146 BC, when it ended up under Roman control. Under Roman rule, Tripoli became know as Regio Tripolitania (Region of the Three Cities). It was thus called because of the three major Roman cities located in the area, modern-day Tripoli, Sabratha and Leptis Magna. (Look for my next post about our visit to Sabratha). Tripoli was important to the Roman empire for a couple of reasons; 1) a Roman emperor was originally from Libya and 2)Tripoli was the meeting point for three major African trade routes, from Sudan, Niger and Chad. Following the Roman habitation (which seems to decline somewhere between the 4th and 6th centuries AD), the Byzantine empire took over. Finally, the conquering Muslims came in (8th century AD). Today, the only in tact piece of Roman evidence in Tripoli is the Arch of Marcus Aurelius (which is actually an arch honoring his co-emperor, Lucius Vera, for his defeat of a Parthian king). The three cities were basically trade routes to Africa, and Tripoli itself is built on a peninsula that serves as protection from attack. The Turks come in in the 16th century, too, but I haven’t gotten that far in my research yet, so we’ll save that for when I actually go to the museum (which would also explain why it was the Turkish government’s headquarters, right?) Most of the ancient parts of the city are either buried beneath its streets now, or have been incorporated unknowingly into her current buildings.
PHEW! That was a ton of research shaved down to a little paragraph. Okay, so as I was saying, the Green Square in Tripoli is basically where the old city and the new city meet. When you drive up to it, you’re in (pretty) current buildings, with your typical stores (for here, obviously not by American standards), and suddenly, there’s an ancient fort rising up in front of you. The Mediterranean is to your right (and actually, the square was pushed out several feet over the water in the 70’s to alleviate some of the traffic congestion. Valiant effort, but not very effective). Behind the Red Castle is the sukh, with lots of small shops selling traditional gold jewelry, tourist gear, traditional clothing, etc. To your left and behind you is nothing but busy streets. The streets here seem to operate on some kind of circle theory. There’s traffic circles literally everywhere and any kind of main meeting place, such as the green square, seems to have main thoroughfares branching off in a circular pattern. I’m not really sure what that’s about, but I guess when your traffic is uncontrollable, the best hope you have is to just make everyone go in circles til they go mad. Within the Green Square is a fountain, put in by the Italians in the 20’s (according to my local guide, Zack, who apparently doesn’t know diddly squat about his city). I can’t verify the accuracy of this statement, so don’t quote me on that, please. The fountain is gorgeous, with the front portion of four horses rising out of the water. Their hindquarters turn into fish tails, so I guess they’re seahorses (haha!) There’s another fountain somewhere around there called the Gazelle, which Zack really wants to show me, but he somehow misplaced it. Looks like I’m going to be looking for another local guide soon, if he doesn’t shape up his performance. In front of the Red Castle are two pillars, one with a clipper ship at the top and one with an archer on a horse. A few blocks from the Green Square is a store, which Zack’s mother’s family owns. It’s very nicely kept up, though rented out as a coffee shop. We stopped there for some drinks (disgusting Pepsi for me….sodas are horrible here, they all have this funk taste) and then continued on to a portion of the beach within the Tripoli city limits.
Across the street from the Red Castle, a portion of the Green Square
Portion of the Sukhs
The Italian fountain in the Green Square
When we pulled into the beach area, a military man was at the entrance and told us we had to park farther down. Zack told him that I was his wife and it was my first visit to Libya, and the man said it was okay to park wherever we wanted to. Okay, this is a (small) example of how people are here. They LOVE for people to come here, and they go above and beyond to make you feel welcome. Every review of any tourist says the same thing, over and over, welcoming, kind people, and it’s very true. Actually, I get a little better treatment, because I’ve married in. I can only compare it to the Prodigal Son….it’s like they view me as Libyan, and it’s the first time I’ve come home in years and years, and they want to kill the fatted calf and throw a big party for me (I‘d rather they kill the fatted calf, and not the fatted ram….ew). I don’t know if that made sense, but it’s what it seems like to me. Back to that discussion, Zack told the guy that we were fine parking with the commoners, and he then said, if anyone bothers you or your wife, let me know immediately, and they will be kicked out. I feel so dang special here, like royalty! It’s just great! The history of this beach (as told by Zack, so who knows) is that it was formerly a portion of a military base for the United States. Up until the late 90’s the beach was closed to the public, because of under water mines. The government has cleaned up the beach area there, but it still says no swimming, because really, who knows if they got it all? I know I’m not swimming somewhere that may cause me to explode! Zack, however, swam there many times. I swear, sometimes he’s just an idiot. This part of the beach really has no sand and just drops off to the sea. Down by the water, there’s a lot of old, rusted junk from the American inhabitation, and lots of rocks wash up there that have been worn smooth by the sea, and they’re really just beautiful. I picked up a few, but Zack was unimpressed. After finding out that it was, at one time, an American owned beach, I decided to kick all non-Americans off of my land. I was largely ignored, so next time, I think I’ll bring an American flag with me and reclaim my territory. After skipping rocks on the water for a few minutes, we piled in the car and headed towards home. Just wait until the next post……SABRATHA!!!!!
Abandoned junk on the American beach
Balancing act
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