Rachid Karami International Fair

Oscar Niemeyer designed this seventy-hectare fairground for Tripoli in 1962, and the centrepiece is a covered exhibition hall shaped like a boomerang, seven hundred and fifty metres long. Around it he laid out an experimental theatre, a dome, a helipad, a water garden and housing, all in the sculpted concrete he is known for. Construction stopped in 1975 and the complex was never completed or used as intended. It was inscribed as World Heritage in 2023 and simultaneously placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of its condition.

What you actually see

• The boomerang hall - a 750-metre covered exhibition space, the site's centrepiece.
• The experimental theatre - a domed concrete auditorium among the pavilions.
• The water garden - Niemeyer's landscaped basins and walkways.
• The unfinished state - structures left as work stopped in 1975.

When to go

March to May and October to November are the most comfortable. The site is open and hot in summer with little shade. Access arrangements change, so checking before travelling is worthwhile.

Honest expectations

The concrete is deteriorating and parts of the site are closed off as unsafe; it is on the Danger List for that reason. Access is not always available and depends on current management. There is little interpretation on site.

Nearby

Tripoli's old city is a short drive east, and the Palm Islands are offshore.