Tripoli

Also known as Tarabulus

capital city of Libya

AI overview

Tripoli is the capital and largest city of Libya, a country in North Africa. It matters as the political and economic center of Libya and serves as the country's main port city on the Mediterranean Sea.

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Place details

Locality: طرابلس
Region: طرابلس
Country: ليبيا
Population: 1,302,947
Timezone

Travel guide

Understand

thumb|Maydan Jazair Park and the port of Tripoli seen from the Italian quarter.

Get in

Visas will be needed, and those can be attained via embassies or consulates. Roughly US$50–150, you should obtain the visa prior to arrival and be prepared for getting your hands on lots of information, best to call first for the latest requirements as they change regularly. Business visitors or others with the right 'connections' may be able to arrange a visa on arrival. The cost has been 100 dinar, but the process can be slow. This must be paid in Libyan dinar. If you do not have dinar, you will have to go to the area after baggage reclaim to exchange some money (minus your passport). The security staff will allow you back in, but make sure they see you leave to be sure.

Leaving Libya requires the right stamps in your passport. Your hotel is required to present your passport to the authorities where your visa will be stamped. Make sure you confirm this with the hotel prior to checking out or else you are liable for a fine or worse when clearing immigration. Make use of the business class lounge at Tripoli Airport (LYD 30 charge if you are not a first/business traveller) where the toilet facilities in there are clean while the same cannot be said for the ones in the general lounge.

Get around

The best way to see Tripoli is to walk, there are plenty of great guides out there (books) to help you out and also you may come across some half-useful Libyan versions. The people are friendly and very inquisitive. But be aware if you're a westerner, or stick out like a sore thumb compared to a local. Don't walk around at night alone. Taxis are also useful but can be pricey for westerners.

See

More and more palaces (especially from the Karamanli period) are also being restored and opened to the public. The basic street plan of the medina was laid down in the Roman period when the walls were constructed as protection against attacks from the interior of Tripolitania, and are considered well planned, possibly better than modern street plans. In the 8th century a wall on the sea-facing side of the city was added.

Three gates provided access to the old town: Bab Zanata in the west, Bab Hawara in the southeast and Bab Al-Bahr in the north wall.

The city walls are still standing and can be climbed for good views of the city. The Bazaar is also known for its traditional ware; fine jewellery and clothes can be found in the local markets. The Museum, a fine modern facility located in the Red Castle, is Libya's national museum. It houses many artefacts from the country's Roman and Greek periods, including treasures from the World Heritage sites at Leptis Magna and Sabratha, and politically motivated displays such as the Volkswagen Beetle car driven by Gadaffi in the 1960s.

~37 min read

Article

Tripoli, historically known as Tripoli-of-the-West, is the capital and largest city of Libya, with a population of about 1.317 million people in 2021. It is located in the northwest of Libya on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean Sea and forming a bay. It includes the port of Tripoli and the country's largest commercial and manufacturing center. It is also the site of the University of Tripoli.

Tripoli was founded in the 7th century BC by the Phoenicians, who gave it the Libyco-Berber name Oyat (Punic: 𐤅𐤉‬‬𐤏‬𐤕, romanized: Wyʿt), before passing into the hands of the Greek rulers of Cyrenaica as Oea (Ancient Greek: Ὀία, romanized: Oía). Due to the city's long history, there are many sites of archeological significance in Tripoli. Tripoli may also refer to the sha'biyah (top-level administrative division in the Libyan system), the Tripoli District.