Leptis Magna Travel Guide

 Luchonda Says:  The Severan Basilica is 92 metres long, and 40 metres wide. It was built as a judicial basilica, and it has two apses at either end.It was converted into a church by the command of Byzantine emperor, Justinian 1.(6th century)First impression entering the basilica : a mess of... 

 Luchonda Says:  A nymfaeum was a Roman temple consecrated to water nymphs, and added during the reign of Septimius Severus. It once had a superb facade of red granite, and niches filled with marble statues, but most of it was destroyed by a flood.This one stands near to the Wadi Lebda and,... 

 Luchonda Says:  Among the many sites at Leptis Magna you will find many arches, like the Severan Arch, the Palaestra or Sports Ground, the Nymphaeum, the Hadrianic Baths, the Colonnaded Street, the Severan Forum, the Severan Basilica, the theater, the harbour, the Circus, the Temple of... 

 Luchonda Says:  The site of Leptis Magna is the site of the most impressive ruins of the Roman period.Leptis Magna, also known as Lectis Magna (or Lepcis Magna as it is sometimes spelled), also called Lpqy or Neapolis, was a prominent city of the Roman Empire.The first three pictures are... 

 Luchonda Says:  Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus, born in Leptis in 146, favoured his birthplace with the construction of magnificent public buildings of which a great forum , a huge basilica and a 12 km underground aqueduct. All this in the late 2nd century, 

 Luchonda Says:  The theater in Leptis Magna is a typical Augustian age theater, built in AD 1-2, and subsequently renovated. The scaenae fronts (back scene) of the theatre is well preserved. There was another group of dutch visitors. Three of them were singing the "Klokke Roeland song" ,... 

 Luchonda Says:  The Hadrianic Baths are impressive, once you can imagine how it was constructed to get steamy water. One of the pools, measuring 28 times 15 metre, remains intact. This bath house was one of the largest that ever was built outside Rome itself. 

 iwys Says:  Adjacent to the swimming pool in the Hadrianic Baths were the Forico or public toilets. These were indeed very public toilets where people sat together, in a row, on a long marble seat above a channel of moving water. Presumably, they chatted and perhaps also read, while... 

 iwys Says:  The Palaestra is sometimes also known as the Gymnasium, but it was actually an oudoor sports ground, where the citizens of Leptis Magna exercised before entering the Hadrianic Baths. We can deduce from mosaics found at other Roman palaestrae that sports here would have... 

 iwys Says:  Leptis Magna's amphitheatre was built between 54 and 68 AD, during the reign of Emperor Nero. It had a capacity of 16,000. Whereas the theatre, where plays for the educated citizens were performed, was close to the city centre, the amphitheatre, where gladiators and wild... 

 iwys Says:  The Old Forum, at the coastal end of the Cardo Maximus, was the original city centre, dating back to the 7th century BC, although most of what remains today was built in 2 AD. It is, like the newer Severan Forum, which replaced it, a large paved square, surrounded by public... 

 iwys Says:  Possibly the grandest of all the buildings in Leptis Magna is the Severan Basilica. It measures 90m by 40m and had a wooden roof over 30 m high. This was supported by the pink granite colonnades which flank the inner walls of the basilica. The whole structure resembles a... 

 iwys Says:  The new Forum, built in the 2nd century AD during the reign of Septimius Severus, measures 100m by 60 m, that is a similar area to a football pitch. The floor was completely covered with marble. It was surrounded by colonnnaded porticoes, with arches above them. Looking in... 

 iwys Says:  The Roman theatre at Leptis Magna is one of the oldest stone theatres in the world. It was built of limestone blocks in 1-2 AD and the columns at the back of the stage were added in 144 AD. The pulpitium or stage was decorated with statues and sculptures of gods and... 

 iwys Says:  The market is one of the most fascinating parts of Leptis Magna, because many of the original structures, including serving counters and measuring blocks, remain. The most significant of these structures are two octagonal tholoi or serving kiosks. Each one is 20 m in... 

 iwys Says:  The Pharos or lighthouse of Leptis Magna was originally at least 35m high and a flame at the top helped guide ships into the port. This lighthouse should get a lot more attention than it does, as it was a twin of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Pharos of... 

 grets Says:  Funerary art of the Archaic period displays local imitations of late-Corinthian pottery styles. Other items of funerary art found in the tombs at Leptis Magna are black painted pottery and Punic shell-shaped oil lamps.