Libya Revealed

Libya’s relative isolation during the past few years has ensured that tourism has developed at a much slower pace than other countries in the region and with only 5.3 million people in a country three times the size of France, nothing ever appears crowded even when visiting the main cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. Without doubt, the ruins of ancient Greek temples, Roman theatres, statues and mosaics to be found in the main sites are as fine as any to be found in Europe. Indeed, the impressive mosaics and statuary housed in the Libyan National Museum compare favourably with exhibits at the British Museum!

The largest city of ancient times was Leptis Magna, a major trade centre linking the African interior with the Mediterranean and onwards to Rome – its ruins are amongst the most impressive in the Roman world due to the sheer scale of the monuments, the beauty of the stone and the dramatic location beside the sea. Further east, the city of Cyrene was founded in 632 BC by Greek refugees fleeing from the volcanic activity surrounding the island of Santorini. Expanding rapidly, the port of Apollonia was created and, after the Romans took over, the city was rebuilt on a grander scale. Further south, into the Sahara, lies the Libya of shifting sands and romantic oases, home to ancient ‘troglodyte’ communities and the mud-walled villages of Berber and Arab. Indeed Ghadames was already at least 1,000 years old when the Romans arrived in 19 BC.