Tripoli Cathedral

The Cathedral of Tripoli in the 1960s.
The Algeria Square Mosque in 2012

Tripoli Cathedral (Italian: La Cattedrale di Tripoli; Arabic: كاتدرائية طرابلس‎‎) was a Roman Catholic cathedral in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, located on Algeria/Elgazayer Square - Maidan al Jazair /Maydan elgazayer in the city centre.

History

The Cathedral was built circa 1923 and officially opened in 1928. The original architect was the Italian Saffo Panteri, who designed the Cathedral with the use of Neo Romanesque Romanesque style with a cupola ( dome ) reaching the height of 46 meters in total. The belltower ( campanile ) was decorated with Venetian style engravings.

The Tripoli Cathedral was the second commissioned Catholic church in the city, with the first commissioned Santa Maria degli Angeli, constructed by the Maltese community in 1870.[1]

There were around 50,000 Catholics in Libya (mostly in Tripoli and surroundings), comprising less than one percent of the population. Most of the Catholic population was composed of the remaining Italian Libyans, Maltese Libyans, Filipinos and other catholic migrants. Most of which who have already left Libya by 2010 - 2015 and the 2011 civil war.

Libyan architects have also contributed to its construction, notably Othman Najeem contributing to interior decoration work.

Conversion into a mosque

In the 1990s, the Cathedral was converted into the "Maidan al Jazair Square Mosque" (Arabic: جامع ميدان الجزائر‎‎) by Muammar Gaddafi's regime. After having been significantly modified, many of its original features were removed and replaced with more modern Arabesque-style architecture. The Cathedral was fully converted into a mosque by the year 2000.. While no sources were found to back the claim, the reason for conversion is that the Cathedral was originally built by the Ottomans as a mosque, then turned into a cathedral by the Italians; however, very weak reference exists to back this claim. The cathedral evidently has Romanesque - Basilica rules of architecture and inconclusive evidence of Arabesque Ottoman style construction.


Coordinates: 32°53′26″N 13°11′9″E / 32.89056°N 13.18583°E / 32.89056; 13.18583

See also

References

  1. ↑ TRIPOLI OF BARBARY by Romeo Cini, Maltamigration.com, Accessed 28 December 2009.
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