Port of Benghazi

The Port of Benghazi is a major seaport in the city of Benghazi, Libya, on the Mediterranean Sea coast within the Gulf of Sidra.

A natural seaport, it was founded as Euesperides by the ancient Greeks of Cyrenaica in the 6th Century BC. After passing it to the Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy III, it was renamed Berenice to honor his wife. The city’s current name honors benefactor Ghazi.

From the third century onwards, it surpassed Barce and Cyrene as the region’s main center. Under the Kings of Libya, it was a joint capital with Tripoli, resulting today in state level institutions being located in the second city. This resulted in a rivalry, which being located in different tribal districts, was only intensified.

Following a period of slow decline, it was redeveloped after occupation by the Italians in 1912, until the start of the World War II Western Desert Campaign from 1942. This resulted in it becoming a hub in the eastern part of the Italian Libya Railways, connecting it inland to Soluch and Barce. The port was subject to heavy damage in World War 2, as it moved between Axis and Allied control five times. The British Army finally took the Port of Benghazi in 1942, during the Battle of El Agheila.

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