Red Castle Museum

The Red Castle and entrance to national Red Castle Museum

The Red Castle Museum or Assaraya Alhamra Museum (Arabic: متحف السرايا الحمراء‎), or Archaeological Museum of Tripoli, is Libya's national museum. It is located in the historic building known as the "Red Castle" or "Red Saraya".

Designed in conjunction with UNESCO, the museum covers 5,000 years from prehistory to the independence revolution (1953) era.^[1] It is located in Tripoli's Assaria al-Hamra or Red Castle fortress, on the promontory above and adjacent to the old-town district with medina Ghadema. The museum has an entrance on historic As-Saha al-Kradrah, the Martyrs' Square.^[2]

History

The museum was established in 1919, when the colonial Italians in Libya converted a section of the castle to a museum to house many of the archaeological artifacts scattered across the country since prehistoric times. The square around the castle was designed in the thirties by architect Florestano Di Fausto. When the British occupied Libya during World War II, the museum occupied the entire complex of the castle and in 1948 was renamed The Libyan Museum. The museum reopened to the public in 1988, renamed the Assaraya Alhamra Museum–Red Castle Museum, with "state-of-the-art" facilities.^[2]

Collections

The museum was designed with different wings and floors for the exhibition of the distinct collections.^[1][2]

• Prehistory of the Libyan region
• Ancient Libya tribes and traditions – the Maghreb Berbers: Garamentes, Tuareg, and others
• Libyan culture during the Phoenican–Punic–Greek–Roman Libya–Byzantine–Ottoman Tripolitania-era traditions
• Islamic architecture
• Italian Libya, World War II, Libyan independence and 20th-century Libyan heritage
• Natural history of the Libyan region

Gallery

The Red Castle on the bay before harbor landfill, circa 1940s, with Miramare Theater (left) and Italy Square (Martyrs' Square) (center-palms).	Aerial view, circa 1950's, of the Red Castle, with Independence Square (Martyrs' Square), the Royal Miramare Theater (lower left), and old shoreline.
The Red Castle, a view of the northeastern side with the Martyrs' Square museum entrance.	Inside the museum

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red Castle Museum.

• Zliten mosaic
• History of Islamic Tripolitania and Cyrenaica
• History of Libya
• Leptis Magna
• List of museums in Libya

References

Coordinates: 32°53′45″N 13°10′49″E / 32.89583°N 13.18028°E / 32.89583; 13.18028