Olbia or Theodorias was a Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 / Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 town between Marj and Bayda in the Cyrenaica

Cyrenaica

Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...

 region of modern Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

. Olbia is now mostly the archaeological site. The location's modern name is Qasr Libya, after the Islamic period castle (Qasr) on the site and Libya or Lebia as a corruption of the ancient name Olbia.

History

After destruction by the Vandals and incursions by Laguatan (Lwatae) nomads, it was refounded in 539 CE as Polis Nea Theodorias by the Byzantine empress Theodora

Theodora

Theodora is a name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift". It is the feminine form of the Greek name, Θεόδωρος meaning "God's gift" , neuter gender...

.
All that remains of the town are two Byzantine churches. One is integrated into the Qasr, which now houses the Qasr Libya Museum. The other church was excavated by Richard Goodchild in the mid 1950s. Only the floor plan remains, but fifty beautiful mosaic panels depicting the known world and the refoundation and adornment of the city by Theodora are on display in the museum.

External links

• Theodorias (Qasr Libya)