Tour around Africa: Stage 19 - Djerba - Zarzis (DTTJ) to Tripoli (HLLT)
MS Flight Simulator VFR Flight Plan
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At the bottom of this page you will find the download link of this Flight Plan (.PLN file)

In this VFR - GPS Flight Plan we take off from the airport of Djerba - Zarzis (DTTJ) [Tunisia] and land in the Airport of Tripoli (HLLT) [Libya], flying along the coast.

Find below a short extract and screenshots of the main points of the route. In this journey around Africa I have used the Cessna 172S (Skyhawk)

Take off from Djerba - Zarzis airport in an clear day.

Djerba–Zarzis International Airport (French: Aéroport international de Djerba-Zarzis, Arabic: مطار جربة جرجيس الدولي‎) (IATA: DJE, ICAO: DTTJ) is the international airport serving the island of Djerba in Tunisia. The airport began operation in 1970 and today is an important destination for seasonal leisure flights. (*1)

Flying to the SE soon we leave Djerba island in the horizon and get to the mainland.

Flying over Zarzis

Zarzis also known as Jarjis (Arabic: جرجيس‎) is a coastal commune (municipality) in southeastern Tunisia, former bishopric and Latin Catholic titular see under its ancient name Gergis.

To the Phoenicians, Romans and Arabs the port was of strategic importance.

It lies on the coast of the Mediterranean, where the climate is mainly dry and sunny, making it a popular tourist destination mixing the old and the traditional. It has a major port where a park of economic activities is based.

Located at the southern end of the eastern peninsula that bears his name, the délégation (district) of Zarzis has a very large coastline. There are a variety of landscapes reflecting a great diversity of climatic conditions.

The city was known in Antiquity as Gergis and located at the western end of the Lesser Syrtis (Gulf of Gabès), not far from the island of Meninx (current Djerba). The town may owe its name and/or origin to the Biblical tribes of Girgashites which, according to ancient Jewish writers, had left the Canaan at the time of Joshua and went to settle in North Africa.

According to Stadiasme, it had a castle, where stood the ruins and a citadel modern still bearing the old name albeit now pronounced Zarzis, and a (navy) port.

Gergis was important enough in the Roman province of Tripolitania (in the papal sway) to become a suffragan bishopric, which was to fade, presumably at the seventh century advent of Islam. Its ecclesiastical history is confused, due to confusion in consulting the Latin sources with the near-homonymous diocese Girba (modern Djerba). (*1)

Entering Libya flying parallel to the coast direction Zuwara

We temporally go inland in order to pass by Zuwara

Overflying the city of Zuwara.

Zuwarah, or Zuwara or Zwara (Berber language: At Willul or Zwara, Arabic: زوارة‎) is a coastal Berber-speaking city in Libya.

Zuwara or At Willul is famous for its beaches and seafood. It is situated 102 km (63 mi) west of Tripoli and 60 km (37 mi) from the Tunisian border. It is the capital of the Nuqat al Khams district. Its population speaks Zuwara Berber, a Zenati Berber language.

The settlement was first mentioned by the traveller al-Tidjani in the years 1306-1309 as Zwara al-saghirah ("Little Zwarah"). In a Catalan sailing manual (1375) it was called as Punta dar Zoyara. The town is mentioned by Leo Africanus in the 16th century. It later served as the western outpost of Italian Libya (1912–43), being the terminus of the now-defunct Italian Libya Railway from Tripoli 105 kilometres (65 mi) to the east. Its artificial harbour shelters a motorized fishing fleet. Cereals, dates, and esparto grass (used to make cordage, shoes, and paper) are local products.

It was in 1973 in Zuwara that Muammar Gaddafi first proclaimed the Libyan "Cultural Revolution". (*1)

Leaving Sabratha behind

Sabratha (Arabic: صبراتة‎, romanized: Ṣabrāta; also Sabratah, Siburata), in the Zawiya District of Libya, was the westernmost of the ancient "three cities" of Roman Tripolis, alongside Oea and Leptis Magna. From 2001 to 2007 it was the capital of the former Sabratha wa Sorman District. It lies on the Mediterranean coast about 70 km (43 mi) west of modern Tripoli. The extant archaeological site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.

Sabratha's port was established, perhaps about 500 BCE, as the Phoenician trading-post of Tsabratan (Punic: ‬𐤑𐤁‬‬𐤓𐤕‬𐤍, ṣbrtn, or ‬𐤑𐤁‬‬𐤓𐤕𐤏‬𐤍, ṣbrtʿn). This seems to have been a Berber name, suggesting a preëxisting native settlement. The port served as a Phoenician outlet for the products of the African hinterland. Greeks called it also Abrotonon (Ancient Greek: Ἀβρότονον). After the demise of Phoenicia, Sabratha fell under the sphere of influence of Carthage.

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. The town was site of a bishopric. Within a hundred years of the Muslim invasion of the Maghreb, trade had shifted to other ports and Sabratha dwindled to a village.

Sabratha has been the place of several excavation campaigns from 1921 onwards, mainly by Italian archaeologists. It was also excavated by a British team directed by Kathleen Kenyon and John Ward-Perkins between 1948 and 1951. Besides its Theater at Sabratha [fr] that retains its three-storey architectural backdrop, Sabratha has temples dedicated to Liber Pater, Serapis and Isis. There is a Christian basilica of the time of Justinian and also remnants of some of the mosaic floors that enriched elite dwellings of Roman North Africa (for example, at the Villa Sileen, near Khoms). However, these are most clearly preserved in the colored patterns of the seaward (or Forum) baths, directly overlooking the shore, and in the black and white floors of the theater baths.

There is an adjacent museum containing some treasures from Sabratha, but others can be seen in the national museum in Tripoli.

In 1943, during the Second World War, archaeologist Max Mallowan, husband of novelist Agatha Christie, was based at Sabratha as an assistant to the Senior Civil Affairs Officer of the Western Province of Tripolitania. His main task was to oversee the allocation of grain rations, but it was, in the words of Christie's biographer, a "glorious attachment", during which Mallowan lived in an Italian villa with a patio overlooking the sea and dined on fresh tunny fish and olives.  (*1)

Approaching the city of Tripoli.

Flying over the city of Tripoli before landing in its international airport.

Tripoli.  Arabic: طرابلس‎, Ṭarābulus; Berber languages: ⵜⵔⵢⴱⵓⵍⵙ) is the capital and largest city of Libya, with a population of about three million people in 2019. It is located in the northwest of Libya on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean Sea and forming a bay. It includes the port of Tripoli and the country's largest commercial and manufacturing center. It is also the site of the University of Tripoli. The vast Bab al-Azizia barracks, which includes the former family estate of Muammar Gaddafi, is also located in the city. Colonel Gaddafi largely ruled the country from his residence in this barracks.

Tripoli was founded in the 7th century BC by the Phoenicians, who gave it the Libyco-Berber name Oyat (Punic: 𐤅𐤉‬‬𐤏‬𐤕‬, Wyʿt) before passing into the hands of the Greek rulers of Cyrenaica as Oea (Greek: Ὀία, Oía). Due to the city's long history, there are many sites of archeological significance in Tripoli. Tripoli may also refer to the sha'biyah (top-level administrative division in the Libyan system), the Tripoli District.

In the Arab World, Tripoli is also known as Tripoli-of-the-West (Arabic: طرابلس الغرب‎ Ṭarābulus al-Gharb), to distinguish it from its Phoenician sister city Tripoli, Lebanon, known in Arabic as Ṭarābulus al-Sham (طرابلس الشام), meaning 'Levantine Tripoli'. It is affectionately called "The Mermaid of the Mediterranean" (عروسة البحر ʿArūsat al-Baḥr; lit: 'bride of the sea'), describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means 'Three Cities', introduced in Western European languages through the Italian Tripoli. In Arabic, it is called طرابلس, Ṭarābulus; Libyan Arabic: Ṭrābləs; Berber: Ṭrables, from Ancient Greek: Τρίπολις Trípolis, from Ancient Greek: Τρεις Πόλεις, romanized: Treis Póleis, lit. 'three cities'). (*1)

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(*1) Credits: The descriptive texts are mainly an excerpt of those provided by Wikipedia. Visit Wikipedia to read the full descriptions.

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