Making tarabish, the traditional fez, is a craft with roughly four centuries of history. Demand declined sharply after people largely stopped wearing the distinctive head covering in the middle of the twentieth century. The trade survived with difficulty. By 2019, the last workshop was described as having resumed production after an approximately fifteen-year closure, offering […]
Read MoreRepairing household objects is itself a longstanding Tripolitan craft. Copper tools, coffee pots and hookahs can be mended and returned to use instead of being discarded. One artisan documented in 2019 had practiced the same trade in the same workshop for more than sixty years, illustrating the continuity and accumulated skill behind this everyday work.
Read MoreHandmade shoes crafted from natural leather were once part of Tripoli’s traditional trades. The work depends on individual skill and hand production, but has become one of the crafts at risk of disappearing.
Read MoreSmall shops in Tripoli’s old markets preserve a range of straw work and other traditional household goods. They sell simple handmade pieces alongside locally made and imported tools. Straw products, wooden implements and familiar domestic supplies connect the shops with the material heritage of the home. Some retain old-fashioned forms yet remain useful in everyday […]
Read MoreCopperwork is one of Tripoli’s best-known traditional crafts. In Souk Al Nahhassine, the copper market, the sound of hammering has long accompanied the shaping and decoration of metal. Workshop visitors can see artisans engraving copper by hand. The work includes kitchen tools and cooking vessels, which were traditionally common in Tripolitan homes, as well as […]
Read MoreTripoli’s woodworkers continue a practical craft closely connected to daily life in the old city. Small, longstanding workshops produce attractive, useful wooden tools for household kitchens. The trade has persisted despite competition from imported plastic products, preserving both the skills of the makers and the everyday role of wooden utensils.
Read MoreSoapmaking is a Tripolitan craft with more than seven centuries of history. Unlike many traditional trades facing disappearance, it has benefited from makers who developed distinctive varieties and promoted their products in Lebanon and abroad. Some workshops preserve classic shapes and methods. Others have introduced new designs and variations in appearance and composition while retaining […]
Read MoreTripoli’s traditional crafts have endured through changing tastes, new materials and industrial production. Older artisans have tried to pass their skills to younger generations so that the work can continue. Competition, weak demand and low earnings have made that continuity difficult. Some trades have almost disappeared, while others survive through occasional commissions rather than regular […]
Read MoreAt the beginning of the twentieth century, during the final Ottoman decades, Tripoli witnessed the arrival of trains at El Mina station. Local families helped finance its construction, connecting the city to a wider railway network leading toward Istanbul and onward through Europe to Paris. The station became associated in local memory with the great […]
Read MoreRamkin lies approximately 600 meters northwest of Palm, or Rabbit, Island. Although it has a few small sandy beaches, its landscape is mainly rocky. An old lighthouse helped guide shipping. The French constructed facilities here during the Mandate, including barracks, and the island’s strategic military role is reflected in surviving gun positions and trenches associated […]
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