Derna, Libya

Sha'biyah

Darna (Arabic درنة, DMG Darna, also Derna ) is a port city in north- eastern Libya, in the historical region of Cyrenaica. Formerly capital of one of the richest provinces in the Barbary States, it is now the capital of the eponymous Munizips.

Name

In Greek sources is Darnis ( Δάρνις ;) and Darne, occasionally also to read incorrectly Dardanis. In the Roman Empire the city was called Darnis or Derna. Since the Arab Islamization of the spellings Derne ( Derna ) and Terneh ( Ternah ) are common.

History

During the Hellenistic era the ancient Darna belonged to the Libyan Pentapolis. In the Roman Empire the town was civilian and later religious capital of Libya Secunda or inferior designated as Libya Marmarica region.

As a former Metropolitan Diocese of the Roman province of Libya in the Diocese of Egypt in the 4th or 6th century Darnis is still a Titularerzbistum the Roman Catholic Church.

During the expulsion of Muslims from Spain (Al -Andalus ) in 1493, the city was rebuilt on the ruins of the ancient settlement.

During the Ottoman rule Darna was under the first governor of Tripoli, a little later on in 1711 it came to the Sultanate Karamanli before it a possession of the autonomous sanjak of Benghazi in 1835, which covers the whole of Cyrenaica and directly Konstantin Opel was under. From 1875 onwards this Sanjak was converted to the Vilayet Cyrenaica. In 1850 the city had about 4,500 inhabitants, agriculture, fishing and sea trade operated.

The oldest mosque in Darna is the al - al - Atik Maschid that. " Old Mosque ", which was rebuilt in 1772 by Mahmud Wali Karamanli and was decorated with 42 small domes This style resulted from the lack of building materials such as wood or stone in Cyrenaica. Another mosque Maschid az- Zawiya was built in 1846.

The French Admiral Ganteaume landed in June 1800 in Darna and tried to let troops from here march across country during the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt. However, his attempt failed due to the opposition of local troops.

Darna was the site of the Battle of Derna in 1805, in the U.S. General William Eaton about 500 miles marched through the Libyan desert and the city occupied during the First Barbary War. On January 30, 1940 Australian troops took over the area occupied by the Italian Army Darna during the North Africa campaign.

2007 captured U.S. troops in Iraq, a list of foreign fighters in the Iraqi resistance. 52 Of the 112 especially enumerated Libyans came from Darna, so were more jihadists from Darna gone to Iraq than from any other city in the Islamic world.

Islamic Emirate of Barqa

In the civil war of 2011 Darna was the first Libyan city that came under control of the Libyan opposition movement. An arms depot of the Libyan army was attacked and conquered Already on 16 February 2011, two days later, the entire city was under the control of the insurgents. Rebel leader Abdel -Hakim in Darna was al - Hasadi, a former member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, is said to have proclaimed the Islamic Emirate of Barqa in the city. The proclamation of Islamic Emirate has also been confirmed by the Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. Al- Hasadi and his fighters were later incorporated some weeks as Darna Brigade in the newly formed Libyan National Liberation Army.

Geography and climate

Darna is located at the eastern end of the mountain Jabal al - Akhdar, which is the most fertile and most beautiful parts of Libya is due to its relatively high rainfall.