THE QARAMANLI MOSQUE

Do not hesitate to visit this mosque, also called Jamaa el-Kabir (the great mosque). The renovation works ended in 2005, after restoring the sober beauty of this building in the heart of a dallée courtyard. At night, its facades are well lit by ground lights. The Qaramanli Mosque was built in 1689 by Mohamed bey ibn Mahmoud Bey Qaramanli. Although built under Ottoman power, this mosque obeys exclusively the architectural canons of the Libyan mosque, namely, alignments of small domes, here in seven row lengths and six ranks in width: it is the largest domes mosque of all Cyrenaica! Inside the prayer room, the dome roofs are supported by columns of capitals marble. The room is open only to prayer hours and you will have to wait for the end of the cult to be able to visit it. In the face of the mosque, the square shaded by large trees and surrounded by arcades of the Italian era, is an ideal setting for a green tea and for smoking a very popular Egyptian coffee in the evening.

Then join the lively main street of the souk with its small shops.