The Governor of Tripolitania commissioned Benghazi Cathedral in 1926. Ottavio Cabiati, Alberto Alpago-Novello and Guido Ferrazza were the architects, and the engineer Danusso designed the load-bearing structure. It was built from 1929 to 1936 and consecrated in 1939. The infobox lists a Neoclassical style, while the text describes a strict fascist classicism built around reinforced concrete.
It is a basilica with a single nave, a semicircular apse and copper-clad domes. The exterior is covered in white plaster, with a travertine portico on four Doric columns, and the interior is clad in Italian marble. The article says it was the largest church structure in Italy's colonial empire.
It was used as Arab Socialist Union headquarters from 1971 to 1976, when a fire led to its abandonment. Restoration began in 2008 and resumed in 2022. It is disused today.
Comments