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Murzuk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Murzuk or Murzuq (Arabic: مرزق) is a town in south west Libya. It is one of the main settlements of the Murzuq municipality. The town developed in 1310 around a fort, now in ruins, built in the early fourteenth century. The town declined after the advent of modern transportation.
It used to be a major fort, and was termed the "Paris of the Sahara". It lies on the northern edge of the so-called "sea of sand". It was occupied by the Ottomans in 1578 and served as the capital of the Fezzan off and on until the Ottomans ceded Libya to the Italians in 1912, however it was not occupied by the Italians until 1914.
In the early nineteenth century Murzuk served as a jumping off point for multiple British expeditions to find Lake Chad and the legendary Timbuktu. Explorers such as the 1822 Denham, Oudney and Clappenham expedition went from Tripoli to this city where they attempted to get both protection and supplies for the trip south. Murzuk was considered unhealthy by many British explorers and led to illness for many killing some and forcing others back to Tripoli.
Murzuk was also the capital of Fezzan, an ancient kingdom in the southern Sahara.
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