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Little-Known Libya
Shelters Some of the Best Roman Ruins

by Mahmood M. Poonja, Bestway Tours and Safaris

Why should anybody consider visiting Libya? After all, if North Africa fascinates any tourist, there are other, more accessible countries there, including Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco – all of which are popular tourist destinations. Libya is more known as the country led by Muhammar Gaddafi and his possible role in the 1987 terrorist detonation of a 747 passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland.

So it might surprise most people to know that Libya shelters some of the most interesting, best-preserved archaeological ruins from the Roman and Greek periods, including three World Heritage sites. These sites, along with a chequered history that goes back to the sea-faring Phoenicians and Carthaginians, and the fact that the country in modern times had been closed to the conventional tourist, combine to make Libya very popular among tourists who want to visit some of the world’s best Roman ruins and see a fascinating country before the crowds arrive.

Modern day Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, bordered by Egypt on the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Tunisia and Algeria on the west. Boasting more than 1,200 miles (2,000 km) of beautiful Mediterranean Sea coastline, Libya covers an area three times the size of France. Yet its population of 4.5 million is tiny compared to its size. That’s because just south of the nation’s fertile green Mediterranean littoral lies the vast Sahara Desert.

Libya has played host to many civilizations, and enriched world civilization in return. This legacy remains in the form of clear and visible writings, drawings and engravings in the caves of the Tadrart Mountains, the rich archaeological treasures in Ataft, and the Phoenician, Roman, and the Byzantine ports of Tripoli, Sabratha, Libdah, Shah’hat, Susa, Tukrah and Talmitha. The old Islamic cities of Sirt, Darnah and Ajdabiya, and the desert cities of Ghadames, Zuwaylah, Jalu, Ojla, Ghat and Fezzan all offer an interesting insight into the indigenous lifestyle of Libya’s Berber tribes. Amid all this, Libya is the home of the World Heritage Roman sites of Sabratah, Cyrene and the incredible Leptis Magna.

 Limited Access

Tourism to Libya is very limited. For about a decade there were UN sanctions on air travel to the country. With no airline operating to Libya, daring tourists made their way there by road from Tunisia or boat from Malta. In January, after Libya had remanded two suspects to stand trial in the Lockerbie affair, the UN lifted its travel sanctions. Within a few months, European and Middle Eastern airlines flooded Libya with direct flights to its capital at Tripoli and the eastern resort city of Benghazi.

Today Libya is served by such carriers as British Airways from London, Lufthansa from Frankfurt, Alitalia from Rome, Swiss Air from Zurich, Turkish Airlines from Istanbul, Emirates from Dubai, Air Tunis from Tunis and Egypt Air from Cairo, etc. Despite all these direct flights, and the fact that Egypt also has now opened its border with Libya, the surface journey from Tunis still remains the most popular route into the country.

The Tunisia-Libya border offers a 24-hour/seven-day-a-week check post, which makes it not only convenient but also the most logical route. Travelers need to have a visa for Libya, which they must obtain in advance. Because Libya requires tourists to be part of a pre-arranged tour program, this means the tour operator is responsible for applying for the visas, which Tripoli must approve. Once approved, the visa can then be issued by any Libyan Embassy abroad. This process takes about three weeks and, thankfully, doesn’t involve having to send one’s passports to Libya. (For those people whose governments frown on travel to Libya, Libya offers them the option of not having their passports stamped as they enter or depart the country.)

Once Inside. . .

The Berber border town of Matmata in Tunisia is where the Libyans meet tourists and drive them to the border. The border formalities for tourists are quite brisk despite the long line-ups of trucks crossing into Libya from Tunisia. Once over the border, there are no more check posts for the entire tour itinerary. Road conditions are excellent, although one does see scattered plastic bags and tires along the highways.

For travelers entering from the Tunisian side, en route to Tripoli, the first significant stop that comes up is the magnificent World Heritage site of Sabratah (Sabrata) located on the beautiful Mediterranean coastline. It was founded by the Canaanites in the 6^th century B.C. Like Leptis Magna, the jewel of Libya, Sabratah began as a settlement to service the coastal trade of the Carthaginians.

The town offers a majestic amphitheater as its main attraction, along with a wide variety of public baths, temples and fountains. There are many beautiful, well-preserved mosaics, both onsite and in the adjacent museum. Some Byzantine remains exemplify Sabratah’s revival after the devastating Vandal invasions of the early 5^th century. Among the walls and foundations of public buildings discovered in the city, are the market, tribunal and some temples. The most prominent features of the city during Roman times were the public arenas, the temples of Liber Pater, Sirapis, Isis and Hercules, the forum, the theater, 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. Because most of the archaeological remain are still in such good condition even after many centuries, even a cursory visit to the Sabratah site can take five hours.

About two hours east of Sabratah is Tripoli, the capital of modern-day Libya. The old walled city of Tripoli, the Medina, is one of the classical sites of the Mediterranean. The basic street plan was laid down during 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, with each conqueror repairing the damage done by the previous invader. In the 8^th century, the Muslim ruler built a wall on the sea-facing side of the city.

The dominating site of Tripoli is the castle Al-Saraya Al-Hamra, which occupies the east quadrant of the old city. Any tour of the old city should begin here, entering from the land side near Suq Al-Mushir. It houses a library and a well-organized museum that also offers an excellent view overlooking the city from its high walls. The museum’s specialty is the archaeology and ancient history of Libya. It covers the Phoenician, Greek and Roman periods, and has an expanding collection of materials on the Islamic period.

The old city has several locales worth visiting, including its own ancient walls, which are still standing and invite climbing. The Harbor Monument stands at the gates of the old city on the edge of the former corniche road adjacent to the castle, and there are a number of restored houses and consulates, as well as a synagogue, along the narrow lanes of the old city. Must-see mosques include the Karamanli, the En-Naqah and the Gurgi, with Gurgi the best-known. It was built comparatively recently in 1833 by Yussef Gurgi.

Magnificent Leptis Magna

No visit to Libya is complete without a visit to Leptis Magna, one of the great ruins of the ancient Mediterranean world. The city began at the mouth of the Wadi Lebda as a Phoenician port of call. When it joined Rome in 111 B.C., it enjoyed full rights as a Roman colonia and its inhabitants were elevated to Roman citizenship under the Emperor Trajan (98-117 A.D.). The early Roman period saw the construction of the basic harbor and a forum. The city flourished under the rule and patronage of Septimus Severus (193-211 A.D.), who was born in Leptis Magna itself and was the only Roman ruler to have been born in Africa. Most of the major buildings at Leptis date from his time. All the important buildings can be easily reached since they are adjacent to or just off the paved main road that leads from the site’s entrance.

A complete inspection of the wealth of monuments at Leptis Magna requires more than a day, and even longer for visitors with a specialized interest. The site has been well preserved and has an unequalled range of buildings dating back 1,500 years. The first Roman forum, the temple of Roma and Augustus, the temples of Antoninus and Cybele, and the basilica and curia are just a few of the many remain that make Leptis Magna probably the world’s best preserved Roman-era city and among the best-known World Heritage sites.

Another building still standing is the Macellium – the popular Standing Market. This is where the city’s residents bought their daily food and wares. It is a high-walled structure, rectangular in shape, which once had a roof that provided shade. In its center is a place where merchants could display their wares, much like at a modern trade show. Another special area was set aside for traders to conduct international trade in coins, wheat, ivory and oil. It was here that Hannibal procured the elephants he used to cross the Alps and terrorize Rome during the First Punic war. Later, the Romans themselves would also come to buy elephants here to slaughter later for entertainment in their amphitheatres. 

Leptis Magna’s own impressive amphitheatre was probably built around 1 or 2 A.D. It had a semi-circular auditorium linked to the stage structure. The exterior walls, which had pilasters, rose to a height of a three-story building. At each end of the corridors there were passages, both for the viewers and the stage show participants. Special sections in the auditorium were designated for VIP’s, and the stage floor had special storage areas built underneath for items used in the performances. There were also dressing rooms.

Libya’s Other Draws

The attractions that Libya offers to tourists are not limited to archaeological sites. One of the best experiences the country offers is a visit to the desert city of Ghadames, 300 kilometers south of Tripoli. Built in an oasis, Ghadames, “the pearl of the desert,” is one of the oldest of Saharan cities and an outstanding example of a traditional settlement. The city’s _self purpose was to offer its residents cool housing that could fend off the desert heat. Its architecture is characterized by the different functions assigned to each story: the ground floor used to store supplies; another floor extending over dark, enclosed corridors to form a system of passageways; farther up, open-air terraces reserved for women.

At Ghadames one finds a tranquil old city, with covered streets that are both dark and far cooler than the desert outside. All the walls are painted white to reflect the sun and give an additional cooling effect. The positioning of the houses is far from casual. Every angle, every wall, every opening in the roofs over the alleyways, is part of an organic whole designed to resist desert heat, and allow for both privacy and people’s easy movement back and forth between houses. The spatial configuration of Ghadames is unique. Its roughly circular plan is enclosed by the reinforced back-walls of the houses at the periphery. The street pattern consists of narrow and obscure corridors which are integrated into the architecture of the dwellings at the ground floor level and mainly used by men. Women circulate at the level of the rooftops where they can move freely from one terrace to another.

The city consists of seven neighborhoods, each inhabited by a tribe and provided with its own mosque and a central open public space. Houses have square plans and are generally two stories high, connected by terraces at the attic level. A typical house of Ghadames, says UNESCO in its World Heritage Site description, is “an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement which is representative of a culture and which has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.”

Though Ghadames still stands intact, many of its people have moved out into the modern settlement nearby. However, in spite of modern technology, come summer they take refuge in the old city when the heat becomes unbearable.

Eastward Toward Egypt

Beyond Ghadames, the eastern part of Libya, from the resort city of Benghazi to the Egyptian border, continues to offer archaeological sites at such places as the Spartan city of Teuchira, the mosaic center of Gaser Libya, Cyrene of Pentapolis (which houses the famous and majestic Temples of Zeus and Apollo), the port of Sousa at Apollonia, the World War II battle site of Tobruk, and a lot more.

Unlike some of the Islamic countries, Libya is very relaxed in terms of its dressing code for women, rules for alcoholic consumption and movement of tourists within the country. The sense of security is at an acceptable standard and accommodations in major cities like Tripoli and Benghazi are of high quality. Smaller places, including Ghadames, have a more limited and average quality of accommodation. Food is plentiful, with lots of salads and vegetables, meat and poultry available. The best time of the year to visit is the spring and fall.

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Mr. Poonja is managing director of Canada-based Bestway Tours and Safaris.