History of Tripoli Lebanon: A Summary

Present

• ElMina

The harbour - ElMina - three kilometers away, hosted what was apparently at one time a Phoenician town of which nothing now remains. ElMina is also known as the "City of Waves and Horizons".

• Families

A repository of Tripolitan families and expatriates.

• Handicrafts

Tripoli has long been known for its sweets industry, olive oil-based soap production, and copper crafts.

• Index Tripolis

Index Tripolis is a project to provide bibliographic information about Tripoli, Lebanon.

• Kazdoura

A wander around inside Tripoli, Lebanon: A diary of humouristic series of walkabouts "kazdouras".

• Links

Useful links and telephone numbers in Tripoli, Lebanon.

• Maps

Terrain, street, satellite, touristic, urban growth, sailing, and historical maps and aerial imagery of Tripoli, Lebanon.

• News

Daily and weekly news from Tripoli, Lebanon.

• North Lebanon

A guide for towns and villages neighbouring Tripoli, Lebanon.

• Palm Islands

The Palm islands park is a unique and integrated natural marine basin in the eastern Mediterranean that was declared as a reserve in 1994.

• Panoramic Views

Interactive panoramic views of Tripoli, Lebanon.

• Tripoli e-Discussion Society

The 'Tripoli e-Discussion Society' is an independently self-controlled body that aims at gathering Tripolitans residing all over the world to discuss issues pertaining to Tripoli, Lebanon.

• Today's Tripoli

Present aspects of Tripoli, Lebanon

• Tripoli Radio

Tripoli Internet Radio features original on-demand programs about different aspects of Tripoli, Lebanon.

• Tripoli TV

Tripoli Internet TV brings you the latest video clips related to Tripoli and features original on-demand films about different aspects of Tripoli, Lebanon.

Past

• History

A quick reference about Tripoli in the Prehistorical, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Crusades, Mameluke, and Ottoman periods.

• Monuments

The wealth of historical monuments make Tripoli the second largest preserved Mameluke city in the world.

• The Tripoli Quiz

An educational game to test your knowledge on the present and history of Tripoli, Lebanon.

• Tourist Guide

A comprehensive tourist guide for sightseeing in the historical districts of Tripoli, Lebanon.

• Virtual Museum

A documented history of Tripoli from the 3rd to the 20th centuries with large collections of coins, garments, manuscripts, paintings, old photographs, and many other artifacts.

Languages

• Français

Bienvenue à Tripoli, Liban

• عربي

أهلاً بكم في طرابلس لبنان

• Ramadhan / رمضان

The Holy Month of Ramadhan in Tripoli / شهر رمضان المبارك في طرابلس

• عائلات

العائلات الطرابلسية

Information presented in The Tripoli Internet Database/tripoli-city.org web site is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized public reproduction or distribution of material contained in The Tripoli Internet Database/tripoli-city.org web site, or any portion of it, may result in severe civil and criminal penalties, and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under the law.

Please send your comments, suggestions, or contributions to: Dr. Ghazi Omar Tadmouri.

Throughout its long history, that goes beyond 3000 years, Tripoli Alsham has witnessed two main stages:

1 . The establishment of the Phoenician city, at around 1500 BC by the citizens of Sydon (Saida), Tyr (Sour) and Arwad, at the seaside where the Mina city stands nowadays.

2 . Building the new fashioned Mamluk city before more than 700 years by the order of Sultan Kalawoon, who liberated it from the Crusaders (688 Hejira (H)/CE 1289). Kalawoon';s military leaders advised him to destroy the old coastal city, so, as not to be a target for new Crusaders raids. Instead, the city was, constructed at an inland area that is two miles away from the coast and around its old historical castle. Since that time, the history of the Mamluk architecture in Tripoli started to develop.

During the Crusader's occupation of Tripoli which lasted 180 years (502-688 H)/(AD 1109-1289), they built the fort, known as Saint Jil fort. That was on the same location where the leader Soufian Ben Moujib Azdi had constructed the first Islamic fort during his blockade around Tripoli in the era of Khalifa Osman Ben Affan at about 25 Hejira/CE 646. The Crusaders also put up several constructions at the northern and western bottoms of the fort so a small Latin street emerged. Before the Crusaders, the Fatimids ordered the constructions of several monuments in the same area. They built a small mosque (Mashad) inside Soufian's fort that the Crusaders did not demolish when they built Saint Jil fort. The Fatimid also, built a Khan (Kisaria) on the eastern side of Tripoli river. The Crusaders turned it into a palace known as the Prince Palace. Besides, many other Fatimid milestones were raised, however, their features disappeared with time. In fact, when the Mamluks started building the new city, they used sculptured stones from the ruins that were brought from the old demolished coastal buildings of both the Crusaders and Fatimids. These stones were originally cut from the solid sandy rocks of the seaside. Mamluks also used the granite pillars, brought since ages from the Egyptians, Romans and Crusaders, as erected supports and to give more strength to many different constructions, many of which still do exist nowadays. Some of these pillars can be noticed in: Taynal mosque, Tahhan mosque, Houjayjieh School, the Mansouri great mosque's yard, the High great mosque in Mina city, Amir [Prince (Barsbay Nasiri)] Tower, the gates of the Prince (Kartay) school and Sakrakieh School, the several erected pillars in today's Mina city streets, Haraj Bazaar, and others.