Tripoli, the metropolis of ancient Phoenicia, and the city of charms and history that earned the titles of Al-Faiha and the Bride of the North. We know it today as Lebanon’s northern capital and also more recently as the Bride of the Revolution.
We’ve seen it in its today’s modernity merged with the remnants of ancient civilizations, notably that of our ancestors the Phoenicians, and also relics of the Crusades, the Persians, the Ottomans, and the Mamluks.
But have we seen how it looked and was in past centuries? Here are some rare old pictures that will step you back in time, some as far as the 1800s.
Overview
El-Mina Harbor, 1900s
Tripoli Port late 1900s
View of the orange orchards, 1950s
A view from St-Gilles fortress of the orchards that filled the city with refreshing orange scents, earning Tripoli the name of Tarabloss Al-Faiha.
Merchants and camels at Al-Tal Clock Tower, 1918
Horse carriages were still a mode of transportation in 1949
They used to call them carroussa from the French carrosse.
Taynal Mosque of Emir Seif Eddine, 1920 (built in 1336)
The avenue to Al-Mina seaside
Al-Tal plaza, early 1900s
Majesty and Serenity, Tripoli 1950s
Abou Ali River
It was certainly in much better shape than it is today!
Tripoli 1880-1890’s
St Gilles Castle and Abou Ali River
Al-Tal Plaza
St-Gilles Castle during a Royal Tour of the Prince of Wales, 1862
According to the Royal Collection Trust, this photo was acquired by the Prince of Wales who became King Edward VII:
“The city of Tripoli was the final stop on the Prince’s overland tour. Here the Royal Yacht Osborne was waiting to take the royal party onwards to Constantinople. The Crusaders had constructed the castle, known as the Citadel of Raymond de St-Gilles, when they laid siege to Tripoli in the twelfth century. The photograph is signed and captioned in the negative, ‘F Bedford Tripoli 10 May’.”
Tripoli’s Mule Tram, 1920s
A Tripoli street in 1942
Street’s vendor
Tripoli’s tramway 40s-50s
Juice’s ambulant vendor, 1918
This traditional way to sell lemonade or water or coffee in the streets has not totally disappeared from the streets of Tripoli.
An ambulant vendor selling loz akhdar (and plus)
Tripoli 1950
Tripoli has several old structures and buildings designed by Italian architects hired by locals, some dating over 100 years. Some are still very well preserved and can be seen across the city.
Another old view of the fortress and Abou Ali River
Tripoli 1974
When orange orchards extended to the sea, 1942
Tripoli old souk, 1954
Al-Mina around 1930s
