- Marble Arch (Libya)
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The Marble Arch (Italian: Arco dei Fileni), formerly known in Libya as El Gaus (i.e. The Arch), was a monument in Libya built during the days of Italian colonization. It was located on the Libyan Coastal Highway between Ras Lanuf and El Agheila and marked the border between Tripolitania and Cyrenaica.
The arch was designed by the architecht Florestano Di Fausto after a request by the Italian governor-general Italo Balbo, who was in office from 1934 until 1940. It was unveiled on March 16, 1937.
The monumental arch was named after the legendary Philaenus brothers of Carthage.
It was 31 metres high, the opening was at 15.75 metres high and 6.5 m wide.
There was an inscription at the top of the structure which read: Alme Sol, possis nihil urbe Roma visere maius (Latin for "Oh kind Sun, may you never look upon a city greater than Rome"). It was demolished in the 1970s by the new revolutionary regime in Libya headed by Muammar al-Gaddafi
Remains of the two large bronze statues of the Philene brothers and parts of the marble reliefs are in a small museum in Medinat Sultan, around 50 km from Sirte.
References
- Philip Kenrick. Tripolitania: Libya Archaeological Guides. Silphium Press, London, 2009. 224 pages. pp. 152-157.
- The Conquest of North Africa 1940 to 1943 at Google Books
- Libya handbook: the travel guide at Google Books
- Combat reporter: Don Whitehead's World War II diary and memoirs at Google Books
External links
Media related to Marble Arch (Libya) at Wikimedia Commons
Categories:- Buildings and structures in Libya
- Italian fascist architecture
- Triumphal arches
- Tripolitania
- Cyrenaica
- Libya geography stubs
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