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<< Our Photo Pages >> Apollonia (Libya) - Ancient Village or Settlement in Libya

Submitted by AlexHunger on Tuesday, 14 September 2010  Page Views: 13733

Site WatchSite Name: Apollonia (Libya)
Country: Libya Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Banghazi  Nearest Village: Susah
Latitude: 32.902526N  Longitude: 21.971681E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Apollonia (Libya)
Apollonia (Libya) submitted by AlexHunger : Site in Libya: Apollonia Greek theatre directly next to the sea shore. The theatre was once at a safer distance to the shore, but a 4th century CE earthquake dropped the entire North African by a couple of Meters. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient Village or Settlement in Libya.
Greek city which served as port to nearby Cyrene, but eventually supplanted it as the leading city in Cyrenaica on account of the tedium to bring goods several kilometers inland and 625 Meters up the plateau. There was a temple to unknown deity which had 11 by 6 Columns dating to about 300 BCE which was repaired under Roman rule.

Unfortunately this could not be found as most of the columns appear to have been used in christian churches and basilicae. Of the port, only a few rocks remain, which give a reasonable impression of the piers which protected the vital sea trade. The Governors Palace appears to have heavy Byzantine overtones. Only about 5% of the city has been explored as all work stopped in 1974.
Near hill of Ras el Mseied. Museum nearby

Note: Damage feared to underwater sites off the coast of Libya, after Gulf disaster.
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Apollonia (Libya)
Apollonia (Libya) submitted by AlexHunger : Site in Libya: Christian Basilica which recycled a lot of antike columns and capitals. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Apollonia (Libya)
Apollonia (Libya) submitted by AlexHunger : Site in Libya: Apollonia Roman Governors Palace. It has heavy Byzantine influences. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Apollonia (Libya)
Apollonia (Libya) submitted by AlexHunger : Site in Libya: Apollonia ruins. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Apollonia (Libya)
Apollonia (Libya) submitted by AlexHunger : Site in Libya: Apollonia Roman baths (Vote or comment on this photo)

Apollonia (Libya)
Apollonia (Libya) submitted by AlexHunger : Site in Libya: Apollonia general view from the road coming from the high plateau of Cyrene. The site is located on the shore between the mast and the high rise hotel. Apollonia was once the sea port for Cyrene, but eventually eclipsed it around 200 CE due to the tedium of travling several kilometers inland up to an altitude of 625 meters. (1 comment)

Apollonia (Libya)
Apollonia (Libya) submitted by AlexHunger : Site in Libya: Apollonia ruins. Apollonia was once the sea port for Cyrene, but eventually eclipsed it around 200 CE due to the tedium of travling several kilmeters inland p to an altitude of 625 meters. All that remains of the port are some rocks in the water. The Libyans built a new port for small boats a couple of hundred meters away.

Apollonia (Libya)
Apollonia (Libya) submitted by AlexHunger : Site in Libya: Apollonia ruins. Apollonia was once the sea port for Cyrene, but eventually eclypsed it around 200 CE.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 13.5km SW 229° Cyrene Temple of Zeus* Ancient Temple
 13.8km SW 232° Cyrene Necropolis* Rock Cut Tomb
 14.1km SW 228° Cyrene* Ancient Village or Settlement
 14.2km SW 232° Cyrene Temple of Artemis* Ancient Temple
 14.2km SW 232° Cyrene Sanctuary of Apollo* Ancient Temple
 14.2km SW 232° Cyrene Temple of Apollo* Ancient Temple
 14.2km SW 232° Cyrene Sacred Spring* Holy Well or Sacred Spring
 14.2km SW 232° Cyrene Rock Cut Tombs* Rock Cut Tomb
 14.5km SW 228° Cyrene Temple of Demeter* Ancient Temple
 20.7km ESE 115° Snibat al-Awila Tombs Portal Tomb
 24.8km SW 234° Al Bayda' Asklepieion Ancient Temple
 34.6km SSW 210° Slonta Grotto Cave or Rock Shelter
 97.8km WSW 258° Ptolemais Ancient Village or Settlement
 98.2km WSW 258° Ptolemais Museum Ancient Village or Settlement
 137.7km WSW 253° Taucheira Ancient Village or Settlement
 198.7km WSW 245° Euesperides* Ancient Village or Settlement
 309.3km NNE 32° Lissos (Crete)* Ancient Village or Settlement
 313.9km NNE 32° Elyros* Ancient Village or Settlement
 324.9km NNE 26° Falasarna* Ancient Village or Settlement
 345.7km NE 34° Stylos Tholos Tomb* Chambered Tomb
 345.8km NE 34° Stylos Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement
 346.0km NE 47° Matala* Rock Cut Tomb
 346.1km NNE 32° Chania Archaeological Museum* Museum
 346.4km NNE 32° Kydonia* Ancient Village or Settlement
 347.2km NE 49° Lasaia Ancient Village or Settlement
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"Apollonia (Libya)" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
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BP well threatens ancient Libyan sites by bat400 on Tuesday, 14 September 2010
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coldrum has submitted this additional article --

Archaeologists fear the damage that oil platform could do to cities dating from the 7th century BC.
Plans by the energy giant BP to sink an oil well off the Libyan coast could have disastrous consequences for the region's rich heritage of coastal ancient city sites and shipwrecks – already under threat from oil tankers, coastal erosion and tourist developments – archaeologists from around the world have warned.

Last week a report into the Gulf of Mexico blowout from BP blamed a "complex and interlinked" series of events, including human errors and mechanical failures, for the explosion that killed 11 engineers and led to the spill.

BP has, however, announced that it intends to go ahead with plans to sink a well – which would be 200m deeper than the one in the Gulf of Mexico – around 125 miles off the coast of Libya. Work is due to begin before the end of the year.

Archaeologists fear that an oil spill in the region could destroy the area's numerous ancient coastal and underwater sites. These include the ancient harbour town of Apollonia, in Cyrenaica – which dates from the 7th century BC and is five metres below sea level – along with two ancient cities in the region of Tripolitania, both of which are World Heritage Sites.

Claude Sintes, the director of the Museum of Ancient Arles in the south of France and director of the sub-aquatic team of the French archaeological mission to Libya, said that the sites are either on the beaches or underwater close to the shore. Washed-up oil would soak the porous stone and be impossible to clean, he added.

"They are very important sites and they are very fragile," he said. "If there is a problem with oil, like in the US, and it washes on to the shore it's going to be very difficult to clean the remains because the stones are porous. Apollonia is five metres under the water, and is complete with streets and buildings. In Tripolitania there are two important sites, Leptis Magna, a former Roman city, and Sabratha, where there is a theatre and mosaics. Some remains are on the beach and, if there was a leak, oil could wash up and certainly cause problems."

Dr Nic Flemming, a British archaeologist who first mapped Apollonia as a student in 1958, said, however, that the possibility of an oil spill ranked low among his concerns regarding dangers to ancient sites.

"It's a problem, but I would say it's 17th of a host of problems," he said. "Tankers already pump out bilge; there are already oil platforms; and ancient sites are being bulldozed because their coastal locations are so valuable. Countries sign up to protection treaties, but if somebody comes along with a lot of money and says 'I want to build a hotel that will create so many jobs', then the treaties are forgotten.

"I'm horrified by the changes over the past 30 years," he added. "I remember watching a town being bulldozed into the sea, complete with columns and mosaics, to make way for a new holiday resort. I hardly dare go to look at a site any more."

A BP spokesman said drilling will start later this year, adding that any leaked oil would float and that a full seismic survey had been carried out. He said plans for Libya had been reviewed in the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico leak.

For more, see the article in the Independent by Andrew Johnson.
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Archaeo­logists attack BP’s drilling plans off Libyaian coast by bat400 on Sunday, 12 September 2010
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Submitted by coldrum --
From Greek and Roman shipwrecks to 20th-century warships; from ancient streets with intact buildings and mosaics to am­phorae and ingots, the Mediter­ranean is a subaqueous treasure trove. So BP’s plans to drill exploratory oil wells off Libya has raised serious concerns among archaeologists, historians and heritage preservation organisations.

The global energy giant says that it will begin the $900m project to drill five exploratory wells in the Gulf of Sirte “before the end of this year” despite the fact that the cause of the blowout of its Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico has yet to be determined. The Libyan wells will be 200 metres deeper than the Macondo.

“An oil spill off the coast of Libya would be a complete disaster,” said Claude Sintes, the director of the subaquatic team of the French archaeological mission to Libya and director of the Museum of Ancient Arles, France. According to Sintes, there are two archaeologically rich areas along the Libyan coast—Cyrenaica and Tripoli­tania. Within Cyrenaica lies Apollonia, an ancient harbour submerged five metres under the water. “It’s a complete town under the sea with streets, walls and houses. Slow tectonic movement caused it to sink,” said Sintes.

Tripolitania, which extends from Tripoli to the Tunisian border, includes two important ancient sites on the shore: Leptis Magna, a once powerful Roman city and harbour, and Sabratha which has the remains of a theatre and a Roman bath with spectacular mosaics. Both are Unesco World Heritage sites. “These sites are archaeologically significant because they allow us to understand the complete evolution of this part of the world from Greek colonisation in the seventh century BC to the Arab invasion in the seventh century AD,” said Sines.

James Delgado, the president of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University, stressed the archaeological importance of the Mediterranean as a highway for ideas, trade and settlement, noting that thousands of wrecks from various historical periods lie within in its depth. “There is a complete record of thousands of years of history on the bottom of the Mediterranean,” said Delgado.

The biggest concern is that oil could congeal on the seabed, coating wood, stone and metal artefacts, hindering the recovery of traces of organics, pollens, DNA and “timbers so fragile that when excavated they have the consistency of ricotta cheese”, said Delgado. Sites such as Sabratha are so close to the shore that large waves often cover portions of the ruins. Oily waves could harm Sabratha’s delicate mosaics.

“I don’t think drilling should be allowed until sufficient studies are completed to ascertain the effects of oil movement in the water and the risks to historic shipwrecks and other underwater cultural heritage sites,” said Steven Anthony, the president of the Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society.

Robert Wine stressed that BP has conducted archaeological and seismic surveys off the coast of Libya and that its “oil spill plans for Libya have been reviewed in light of the Gulf of Mexico incident”. He also said they intend to drill many miles offshore, “well beyond any possible ancient sites”.



For more, see: http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Archaeologists+attack+BP%25E2%2580%2599s+drilling+plans/21319.
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