"Benghazi" a Benghazi Travel Page by grets

History of Benghazi
446BC – City founded by the brother of the King of Cyrene, who named the city Berenice
6th century BC – City populated by the Greeks and renamed Euseperides
249 – Egyptians take over the reign of the city and rename it Barneek
5th century AD – The invading Vandals cause great destructions
642 – Invasion by the Muslim Arabs
15th century – The city is renamed after a man called Seedi Ghazi, who contributed greatly to the prosperity of the city
1578 – Invasion by the Turks
1711 – Fell under the rule of Karamanlis and comes under the control of Tripoli
1835 – Under Ottoman reign and becomes one of the poorest regions in the empire
1858 – The bubonic plague sweeps the region and many people die
1878 – The return of the bubonic plague kills many more inhabitants
1911 – The Italians invaded Benghazi, making their headquarters here and rendering the region a colony
1940 – 1942 - Benghazi receives more than 1000 bombings and is largely destroyed
1942 – The Italians were defeated by the Allies and came under British rule after changing hands five times
1949 – King Mohammed Idris As-Sanousi made Benghazi the capital of Barka (Cyrinaica)
1951 – Libya gains its independence and Beghazi becomes the second city
1986 – Benghazi is bombed by the USA
1995 - Libyan authorities clash down on Islamists, leading to the arrest of thousands of both Libyans and foreigners, especially Sudanese.

Benghazi is now an attractive, modern city with a population of around 1 million people. It is primarily an administrative and commercial centre and many beaches dot the coastline. In the city centre is the monument to Omar al-Mukhtar, the great Libyan resistance leader who fought against the Italian occupation.

There is an old city with a covered souq, which is especially busy on Fridays. The main covered market, the Souq al-Jreed on Sharia Omar al-Mukhtar, sells all manner of clothes and household goods, while not far off the street becomes a pedestrian precinct or small shops and cafes.

The airport is 32 km to the east of the city.