Qasr Libya (or Gasr Libya); located 100 miles northeast of Benghazi and 50 miles west of Cyrene, is best known for its collection of near perfectly preserved classical mosaic panels discovered in 1957 and excavated in the years following.The word “Qasr” in Arabic translates to castle, with it literally meaning “Libya Castle” or “Castle of Libya” in English..
Qasr Libya is the classical Olbia, later renamed to Theodorias in honor of Theodora, wife of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. Qasr Libya has a magnificent Byzantine church and fort built by the Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. The collection of mosaics is considered one of the finest in the world and is mostly housed in the museum, and is interesting because it depicts not only Christian themes but mythical representations of Pagan culture, mythology, and figures. A panel depicting one of the ancient wonders of the world, The Pharos Lighthouse, is of particular interest.
Scenes and characters depicted in the mosaics include pagan gods and goddesses, christian themes, as well as images of human figures, horsemen, musicians, seamen, sea monsters, birds, ostriches, crocodiles, bulls, zebras and leopards.
You can view some of the Qasr Libya mosaic panels in our photo gallery, here -
http://libyaexpeditions.com/photo_gallery/qasr-libya-mosaics/images
