Ghirza

About this place

Ghirza is a Roman-era archaeological site in the semi-desert south of Leptis Magna, on the Wadi Ghirza in north-western Libya. It was a small farming village of about 300 people that flourished after 200 AD, and its stone ruins still stand in a wide red plain. The village grew up when the emperor Septimius Severus, a son of Leptis, reorganised the Roman frontier in Tripolitania, settling former soldiers here, most of them local Berbers. They built dams and cisterns in the valley to control flash floods and grew cereals, figs, vines, olives, almonds and dates. The village had some forty buildings, including six fortified farms, two of them large. It was abandoned in the Middle Ages and covered by sand. You walk among walls of carefully cut stone, some still several metres high, and the towers of the fortified farms with their small windows. The site is thought to hold a temple perhaps dedicated to a Berber god, and the place name may come from his. A wide, silent plain surrounds you, and morning and afternoon light bring out the colour of the stone. Bani Walid is about 104 km away in a straight line. The road is desert track and needs a four-wheel drive. Sources say foreigners need a tour operator or local sponsor to visit Libya. The UK Foreign Office currently advises against all travel to this area, so check official guidance before making any plans.