Ghirza

Ghirza was an Arab town which developed and flourished during the early centuries A.D. in a semi-desert area and in hard climatic conditions, only through the sheer will of the inhabitants. Ghirza settlement is located in the Werfella area South-East of Tripoli and one hour drive from the town of Bani Walid. It is bounded by Wadi Ghirza in the North before the latter meets Wadi Zamzam.
The origin of the name Ghirza is unknown, but it is probable that its original name was Gerisa, which is one of the towns in the Sirt area listed by the historian Ptolemy. No other historical reference to the town has been found.

The ruins of Ghirza are considered archeologically important in the Libya as they are built to a local pattern yet influenced by architectural styles prevailing at the end of the Hellenic era. The tombs themselves belong to Libyan personalities, since the names Fadil, Numera and Nasif were found engraved on the main tomb in the Northern cemetery .

Also included in the ruins are a group of houses located on the left side of the wadi, 300 m from the confluence with Wadi Zamzam. Yet another part of the ruins contains a group of cemeteries built in the form of tombs and obelisks. The first of these is the largest and architecturally most important. It is located on the Northern road and is in the shape of a mausoleum tomb with a square base along the East-West axis. All the tombs are constructed out of limestone blocks quarried in the same area .

The museum in Tripoli (Al Matthaf Al Jamahiri) houses a reconstruction of one of the tombs .