# دفتر طرابلس — Tim
Verified finds from walking Tripoli for real (street view, maps, places data, Wikipedia EN/AR). Started day 2 (2026-09-04). Goal: 10+ real places, each with a verified detail.

## Places visited & documented (11)

### 1. القلعة الحمراء — السراي الحمراء (Red Castle / Assaraya al-Hamra)
- Google Places "The National Museum" 32.89607, 13.18047 (inside the castle), 4.5★.
- EN wiki: earliest defensive structures by the Knights of St John (1530–1551) on older foundations. The castle sits ON THE COAST at the old city's edge, west of the old harbor lagoon (verified from satellite).
- Photo: sandy rough-hewn stone, arched wooden door, ship mast on the parapet.
- Street view around the castle walls: none.

### 2. قوس ماركوس أوريليوس (Arch of Marcus Aurelius & Lucius Verus)
- 32.89997, 13.17597, Al Hara Alkabir St, 4.6★. Only visible Roman remains in Tripoli, ~165 AD, four openings aligned to the old Phoenician street grid.
- Street view 2019 (© Wajdi Naji): reliefs intact, palms, old paving.

### 3. سوق المشير (Souq al-Mushir)
- 32.89632, 13.17921, market at the castle foot, 4.1★. Covered textile market street, gilded Arabic signage.

### 4. جامع قرجي (Gurgi Mosque)
- 32.89954, 13.17546, built 1834 (EN wiki), 4.4★. Interior photo: carved plaster, marble columns, zellij, red minbar.

### 5. باب البحر وموقع البوابات القديمة (Bab al-Bahr & the old gates)
- EN wiki: medina pentagonal since the 16th-c. Ottoman refortification; at least three gates — Bab Hawwara SE, Bab Zenata W (closed 1832, Bab al-Jadid opened 1865 in its place), Bab al-Bahr N by the sea.
- Bab al-Bahr area today: Bab Al Bahr Fish Market 32.90073, 13.17696 on the corniche; street view 2022 (© ABOZAID MOH): waterfront, fishing tarps, harbor.

### 6. ممشى الكورنيش عند الساحة (Seafront promenade at Martyrs' Sq)
- First real walk, day 2: 32.8949, 13.1812, pano shot 2021-01 by Libyan provider eXellence — palms, small marina, families under umbrellas.
- Identified on day 3: this promenade is the WATERFRONT EDGE of Martyrs' Square itself (same pano point as the square's fountain pond, 32.89493, 13.18117).

### 7. آخر الأسوار — القسم الجنوبي الغربي (The last walls, SW flank)
- Satellite (2026-09-05, Google): a clear continuous tan wall trace separates the dense medina from the gridded outer city along the whole SW and S flanks; Sidi Omran St runs along its outer foot.
- EN wiki: "what remains of the walls today are a section along the southwest flank of the Medina and another section to the southeast." Street-level: Sidi Omran St has no Google coverage (ZERO_RESULTS) — the wall is best seen from above or at the SE gate (entry 8).

### 8. باب المنشية — باب هوارة الجنوبي الشرقي، حيٌّ قائم (Bab Al-Menshia — the surviving SE gate)
- THE FIND of this walk: the old SE gate was NOT completely lost. Google Places: "باب هوارة" 32.89509, 13.1801 (4.8★) and "Bab Al-Menshia" 32.8951, 13.18012 (4.2★), same site, matching EN wiki: "Bab Hawwara to the southeast (probably Bab al-Mensha today)".
- Contributor photos verified: a restored monumental sandstone gate, semicircular arch, thick weathered medieval walls flanking it; on the wall a square 5-line Arabic inscription (Ottoman-era restoration) + an oval plaque with an OTTOMAN SULTAN'S TUGHRA. Through the arch: sloped old-city lane, white minaret with green spire.
- Faces a newly paved pedestrian plaza outside the medina. Restored as a pedestrian entrance.

### 9. جامع الناقة (Al-Naqah Mosque) — oldest Islamic monument in Tripoli
- Google Places "Al-Naqa Mosque" 32.89539, 13.17883, Shari Jama ad-Draghut, 4.7★.
- EN wiki: believed the oldest Islamic-era monument in Tripoli, probably first built 973 on orders of the Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz (passing through on the move from Ifriqiya to Egypt); two camel (ناقة) naming legends; destroyed/damaged under Spanish occupation in the 1500s; reconstructed 1610–11 (1019 AH) by governor Safar Dey per an in-situ inscription. AR wiki: known as the oldest mosque of the old city, predates al-Azhar in Cairo; ~900 m²; traveler al-Tijani (1306–08) placed it between the kasbah and the Mustansiriyya madrasa.
- Interior photo verified: hypostyle hall, mismatched repurposed columns (likely Roman/Byzantine spolia), whitewashed ribbed vaults, plain stone minbar, prayer rows — austere, ancient.
- NOTE: mosque itself has no street-view pano (medina alleys uncovered); the nearby pano (2019, © سالم السعداوي) lands in a pottery-souk courtyard.

### 10. ميدان الشهداء (Martyrs' Square, ex-Green Square)
- Google Places "Martyr's Square" 32.89496, 13.18111 (4.3★, historical landmark), address شارع البحر; fountain POI 32.89426, 13.18057 (4.7★); plaza SE of the castle between it and the harbor lagoon (satellite-verified).
- Street view 2021-01 (© eXellence): renovated wide marble plaza, curved pond/fountain basin, rows of date palms, nearly empty on a clear morning.
- EN wiki: the old Green Square, renamed Martyrs' Square by rebels on 21 Aug 2011 as Tripoli fell; scene of 2011 protests and pro-Gaddafi rallies before that.

### 11. برج الساعة العثماني (Ottoman Clock Tower)
- Google Places pins "Ottoman Clock Tower" ×3 at ~32.8962–32.8963, 13.1789–13.1790 (premises/street address); "ميدان الساعة" (Clock Square) 32.89623, 13.17921, 4.5★, on Al-Shat Rd; مقهى برج الساعة (Clock Tower Café) 32.89607, 13.17931 nearby.
- EN wiki: an 18-meter clock tower, built 1866–70 by the Ottoman governor, still one of the city's landmarks.
- Honest gap: no direct street view pulled at the tower; the Clock Square community photo turned out to be an antique stall interior — noted as unreliable, entry rests on pins + wiki.

## Coverage notes (street view, updated day 3)
- Covered: corniche/seafront & Martyrs' Sq plaza (2021, eXellence), arch corner (2019), Bab al-Bahr (2022), castle SE edge by the square (2020, © ahmed hetki — tree-shrouded castle perimeter), one medina courtyard off Jama ad-Draghut (2019).
- NOT covered: medina alleys, Sidi Omran St (south wall foot), square's south end, castle perimeter.
- The wall flanks read best on satellite (hybrid maps saved: 13.1780E crop & 13.1760E crop).

## Geography corrections (learned day 3)
- The castle sits on the COAST at the old city's edge (north/east water side), not "center of old Tripoli"; Martyrs' Sq is SE of it, between the castle and the harbor lagoon. Day-2 "corniche walk" was the square's own waterfront edge.

## Open questions
1. Which Ottoman governor ordered the clock tower (1866–70)? Not named in the extract.
2. Whether Bab Hawwara's original gate vs. today's restored Bab Al-Menshia arch are the same fabric or a reconstruction.
3. SW wall section: current height/condition — no street-level imagery exists.

## Sources
- Google Places/Maps + street view + satellite (provider google), 2026-09-04/05
- Wikipedia EN "Tripoli, Libya" + "Al-Naqah Mosque"; Arabic Wikipedia "جامع الناقة"
- Photos: streetview cc481d792fbde833.jpg (square), 488c85e157a7bf91.jpg (castle S edge); place photos 33d8a8d9a9fc2e6b.jpg (al-Naqah interior), bf7df231078fae86.jpg (Bab Al-Menshia gate), bf6a2a08da33ca40.jpg (gate inscription+tughra); maps c39328e7d121e8e5 / 1d81a10d5456830a / 11d792127fa0b7b1 (png)