The siege of Tripoli occurred in 1551 when the Ottoman Turks and Barbary pirates besieged and vanquished the Knights of Malta in the Red Castle of Tripoli, modern Libya. The Spanish had established an outpost in Tripoli in 1510, and Charles V remitted it to the Knights in 1530. The siege culminated in a six-day bombardment and the surrender of the city on 15 August.
Siege of Tripoli (1551)
French ambassador to the Ottoman Porte Gabriel de Luetz d'Aramont, was present at the siege.
Nicolas Villegaignon was at the Siege of Tripoli as a Knight of Malta
The Red Castle, in Arabic As-saraya Al-hamra, sometimes also Red Fort or Red Saraya, is a major landmark on the waterfront of Tripoli, bordering Martyrs' Square. It has been the home of the Red Castle Museum since 1919, and of the Libyan Department of Archaeology since 1952.
The Red Castle's Saint George Bastion, facing Martyrs' Square
Aerial view in the 1950s
Main façade (Saint George Bastion) with banner celebrating Muammar Gaddafi, 1 April 2007
Sculpture of Saint George on the Saint George Bastion, from the 1920s renovation