Sabratha

Sabratha is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Mediterranean Coast of Libya.

Understand

Sabratha theatre

Sabratha's port was established, perhaps about 500 BCE, as the Phoenician trading-post of Tsabratan. The port served as a Phoenician outlet for the products of the African hinterland. Following the Punic Wars, Sabratha became part of the short-lived Numidian kingdom of Massinissa before this was annexed to the Roman Republic as the province of Africa Nova in the 1st century BC. It was subsequently romanized and rebuilt in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. The Emperor Septimius Severus was born nearby in Leptis Magna, and Sabratha reached its monumental peak during the rule of the Severans, when it nearly doubled in size. The city was badly damaged by earthquakes during the 4th century, particularly the quake of 365. It fell under control of the Vandal kingdom in the 5th century, with large parts of the city being abandoned. It enjoyed a small revival under Byzantine rule, when multiple churches and a defensive wall (although only enclosing a small portion of the city) were erected. Within a hundred years of the Muslim invasion of the Maghreb, trade had shifted to other ports and Sabratha dwindled to a village.

Get in

As of 2023, getting into Libya is difficult, and the Sabratha site only re-opened to tourism within the past few years. You will almost certainly need to be part of a guided tour.

See

Map of Sabratha

Ruins at Sabratha include:

• Sabratha theatre
• Liber Pater temple
• Serapis temple
• Isis temple
• Christian basilica (from the time of Justinian)
• Roman dwellings

There is also contemporary museum adjacent to the site that displays artifacts from Sabratha.

Sleep

Sabratha is near the eponymous town of Sabratha, and there is accommodation there if you are traveling independently. Otherwise, your guide will arrange accommodation.

Go next

• Tripoli
• Leptis Magna