Zawiyat al-Qsur and Qasr Sidi al-Khadri

32°27.97′N 21°0.18′E / 32.46617°N 21.00300°E / 32.46617; 21.00300 Zawiyat al-Qsur (Arabic: زاوية القسور) and Qasr Sidi al-Khadri are a pair of ruined farmhouses in the Jebel Akhdar southeast of Marj in Cyrenaica, Libya, near Qasr al-Jaballah.

Description

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The site is located in a fertile valley lined with fortified farmhouses are located on the high ground. In the 1960s, Zawiyat al-Qsur itself was "an imposing castle ruin" on a hill, but it has since been totally subsumed by a modern farm and only a few blocks remain visible.[1]

Three hundred metres to the south is a second structure, called Qasr Sidi al-Khadri. It was a two-story farmhouse surrounding a small courtyard, built of ashlar masonry. The walls of the ground floor and the lower part of the upper floor are preserved. The arches of the ground-floor entrances are preserved. There is a projecting string course between the two floors, like at Qasr al-Wushish and Qasr az-Zaarura. On the north and wests sides of the building, there is a rock cut ditch. The structure dates to the Byzantine period, as shown by the style of the masonry and the presence of carved cross in one of the walls.[1]

In modern times, the structure has become the tomb for the Sufi saint, Sidi al-Khadri. Its fate after the Libyan Civil War is unknown.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Kenrick 2013, pp. 113–114.

Bibliography

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  • Kenrick, Philip M. (2013). Cyrenaica. London: Silphium Press. pp. 113–114. ISBN 9781900971140.
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