Ptolemais (Cyrenaica)

Ptolemais was one of the five cities forming the Pentapolis of Cyrenaica, founded by a Ptolemaic king, probably Ptolemy III Euergetes (246-221 BC), on the site of an earlier Greek port for the city of Barca. The planned city enclosed 280 hectares within walls measuring approximately 1,650 by 1,400 metres, and contained a hippodrome, amphitheatre, and three theatres. Under Diocletian it became capital of the province of Libya Superior, surpassing Cyrene. Its ruins at modern Tolmeita are on the UNESCO Tentative List.