The Red Castle Museum or Assaraya Alhamra Museum in northeast Tripoli is considered one of the most important landmarks in the capital because it is built in Umm al-Sayara. It was given this name because some of its parts were painted in red.  

From the maps that date back to the seventeenth century, it is clear that the Saraya was surrounded by water canals from all sides. Its entrance was located at the southern wall, which means that it was a fortified castle for the governor and his followers.

Center of power

The Red Castle Museum or Assaraya Alhamra Museum in northeast Tripoli is considered one of the most important landmarks in the capital because it is built in Umm al-Sayara. It was given this name because some of its parts were painted in red.  

From the maps that date back to the seventeenth century, it is clear that the Saraya was surrounded by water canals from all sides. Its entrance was located at the southern wall, which means that it was a fortified castle for the governor and his followers.

Center of power

As historically evidenced, Turkish governors used the castle as their headquarters and for their families.  When Ahmed Pasha Qara Manley ruled the country in the year 1711 AD, he and his family paid special attention to defensive castles. 

The castle was expanded during Manley’s reign through the creation of a special building for the ruler of Tripoli, which contained a spacious hall to receive delegates and the consuls of foreign countries. Manley also built a place for the issuance of currency inside the castle, a chamber for the judiciary, a government pharmacy, and some stores, prisons and mills.

When Italy captured Tripoli in 1911, it made the castle the headquarters of the general governor. It also used some of its parts as museums. During this period, there were many changes introduced to the castle: the removal of the outside buildings adjacent to it, the construction of a road that leads to the Tripoli port and the arcades located in the northern side of the castle’s fence.

Museum and Gadaffi’s hideout

In 1919, the castle became a museum for the first time in its history, and then in 1948 it became a museum under the supervision of UNESCO.

During the era of Gaddafi, the Saraya remained a museum and he called it the Jamahiri Museum after making many additions built on the ruins of succeeding civilizations. The additions introduced by Gaddafi gave the Saraya an odd look inconsistent with the spirit and the architect of the old Saraya.  Gaddafi actually made the Saraya his rest place under the cover of offices for the administration of Libyan Antiquities.  

In recent years, an advanced control center was added to the Saraya and many surveillance cameras were installed in the martyrs yard, which Gaddafi renamed the “Green Yard” and in major streets in Tripoli, close to the Saraya. The Saraya then became the place for controlling and monitoring the Libyan people from the center of their capital city. 

Inside the fences of the Saraya, Gaddafi delivered most of his important speeches during his reign, even his fiery speeches during the February Revolution came from the high fences of the Saraya. 

Chaos and neglect

The chaos experienced in Libya in recent years led to the neglect of the building. The Red Saraya today is neither a place that could be called a museum, nor is it a place that lovers of history and civilizations might like to visit as an historic landmark full of authenticity and originality. 

Today it is haunted by misery and neglect. In addition, all maintenance, repairs and additions carried out in the past have not been successful.