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Origin of the Name Al Athrun
The name Al Athrun is often spelled in various ways, like
Athrun, Alathrun, L'athroun, Lathrun or Latrun. According
to some sources, the town was established
by the Byzantines, who originally named it
Erythron
,
from the Greek ερυθρός (Erythron: 'red'), in reference
to the red colour of the local earth.
Location of Al Athrun
Alathrun is a small
village in Eastern Libya, located about 35 kilometres
east of
Apollonia. One of the main archaeological attractions
of the town are two Byzantine basilicas,
beautifully located by the sea and adorned with white
marble from Proconnesus. The village is also a geological
destination, where archaeologists and geologists walk
down to the shallow bottom of wadi al Athrun to treat
themselves to spectacular geologic treasures and panoramic
scenery from the Upper Cretaceous -
Lower Tertiary sequence,
with slump features representing submarine mass
movements.
Etymology of Basilica
The name basilica, which means both: a public Roman building with a central
nave
and an apse at one or both ends, and a Christian church building based
on the same design with
a nave, a semicircular apse, and two or four side
aisles, comes from Greek
basilikos
('royal'), in turn from the Greek
basileus
('king').
Al Athrun's Sites of interest
- The Eastern Church
- The Western Church
- Mosaic
Pavings
- Small Caves
- Beautiful Landscape
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