Marble Arch (Libya)

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Arch of the Philaeni

Italian: Arco dei Fileni
Arch of the Philaeni in March 1937
Location	Ras Lanuf, Libya
Coordinates	30°19′55″N 18°46′34″E / 30.33194°N 18.77611°E / 30.33194; 18.77611
Designer	Florestano Di Fausto
Type	Triumphal arch
Material	Concrete, travertine
Height	31 m (102 ft)
Dedicated date	15 March 1937
Dismantled date	Early 1970s

The Marble Arch, also known as the Arch of the Philaeni,^{[note 1]} was a triumphal arch built in 1937 by Fascist Italy in Colonial Libya. Located on the border between the previously-separate colonies of Italian Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, the arch was built to celebrate their unification into a single colony; it also celebrated the completion of the Litoranea, the first road connecting the east and west of Libya, which passed underneath the arch at the middle of its length.

Designed by leading colonial architect Florestano Di Fausto and incorporating various stylistic influences from classical antiquity, the arch was a prominent symbol of the Italian Empire, designed to invoke a connection between the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean, especially the Roman Empire, and the ideological goals of Fascism. The eponymous Carthaginian Philaeni brothers, who according to legend were voluntarily buried alive near the site in order to secure a favourable border settlement, were promoted as an example of Fascist virtue: two bronze statues depicting their deaths were incorporated into the arch, which also featured sculpted reliefs and Latin inscriptions glorifying Fascist Italy.

The arch survived World War II, during which the Litoranea was the main east-west route used by the armies of the Western Desert campaign. It was eventually demolished by Muammar Gaddafi, ruler of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, in the early 1970s.
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