Â鶹ֱ²¥ Begins New Conservation Project at the World Heritage Site of Cyrene
Sep. 25, 2025 | By Darren P. Ashby | Â鶹ֱ²¥ Cultural Heritage Programs Manager
On the northern slopes of eastern Libya’s Jebel Akhdar plateau lies Cyrene, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as one of North Africa’s most important ancient cities. With a view overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Cyrene is a unique expression of Greco-Roman culture and urban life in North Africa due to its socio-economic history and its adaptation to its natural environment.
Founded in the late seventh century BCE by colonists from the island of Thera, Cyrene became the earliest successful Greek colony in the region. In the centuries that followed, the city and its residents prospered thanks partly to their control of silphium (a local wild plant with medicinal, culinary, and cosmetic uses that was highly valued throughout the greater Mediterranean world). Despite warfare and natural disasters, Cyrene remained a major city in the eponymous region of Cyrenaica until at least the seventh-century CE Islamic conquests.
The significance of Cyrene is inseparable from its natural environment. Perennial springs at the base of a cliff initially attracted the Greek colonists, who settled on the rocky heights above. From here, the residents could see all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, a view that continues to impress modern site visitors. The two springs—dedicated to Apollo and the city’s mythical founder Cyra—issued out onto a lower terrace that became the sacred precinct of the city, with a Temple of Pythian Apollo at its heart. Over time, additional temples, a bath complex, and a large theatre filled the area, turning it into a center for civic and religious life.
Flooding Threatens an Iconic View
Visitors reach the Sanctuary of Apollo terrace via Valley Street, a steep, colonnaded path known as the Stepped Portico that links the city center to the south with the propylaeum at the southeastern end of the terrace. Valley Street is built into a natural wadi (Wadi Bu Turkia) that is a focus of flooding during rain. In antiquity, an extensive canal system existed to channel this water to the baths and other structures on the terrace and then out away from the inhabited areas of the site. Today the system no longer works and urban growth of the contemporary city Shahat has increased flooding.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”105548″ img_size=”1280×720″ alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1758814973255{margin-right: 10px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;}”][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_wp_text]
Stepped portico in valley street before flooding. (DOA/Â鶹ֱ²¥)
[/vc_wp_text][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_single_image image=”105546″ img_size=”1280×720″ alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” css=”.vc_custom_1758814999900{margin-right: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;}”][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_wp_text]Work area before flooding. (DOA/Â鶹ֱ²¥)
[/vc_wp_text][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]Storm Daniel in September 2023 demonstrated the threat of catastrophic flooding at Cyrene. In less than a day, this Mediterranean cyclone delivered more than a year’s worth of rain. The subsequent flood damaged the architecture and stratigraphy of the Valley Street area, cutting into ancient layers, damaging a stone drainage channel, washing away the Stepped Portico’s foundations, and scattering stone and architecture fragments in a debris field toward the Sanctuary of Apollo. It has also left some parts of the monument, including elements of entablature, exposed on eroding hillsides.After cutting down Valley Street, water entered the Sanctuary of Apollo area near the Greek Propylaeum and flowed northwest between the Temple of Apollo and the Baths of Trajan before continuing off the northern end of the terrace. The greatest damage was in the area between the Roman Propylaeum and the Strategheion, where flooding eroded early stratigraphy, exposed previously unknown architecture, and spread thick layers of mud and debris around existing architecture.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”105547″ img_size=”1280×960″ alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1758815166133{margin-right: 10px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;}”][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_wp_text]
Valley Street after flooding. (DOA/Â鶹ֱ²¥)
[/vc_wp_text][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_single_image image=”105543″ img_size=”1280×960″ alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1758815146729{margin-right: 10px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;}”][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_wp_text]Flood deposits at the entrance to the Sanctuary of Apollo. (DOA/Â鶹ֱ²¥)
[/vc_wp_text][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner css=”.vc_custom_1738696868497{padding-right: 5px !important;}”][vc_column_text]The Cyrene Conservation InitiativeTo address the damage, the Libyan Department of Antiquities (DoA) and Â鶹ֱ²¥ launched the Cyrene Conservation Initiative (CCI), a 12-month conservation and heritage education project. With the generous support of / , the Cyrene Conservation Initiative combines conservation work as well as public safety improvements for site visitors.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”105508″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1758815250318{margin-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_wp_text]
Damage to the Stepped Portico. (DOA/Â鶹ֱ²¥)
[/vc_wp_text][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_single_image image=”105545″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1758815267570{margin-right: 10px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;}”][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_wp_text]Flood-damaged architecture in the wadi zone. (DOA/Â鶹ֱ²¥)
[/vc_wp_text][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_single_image image=”105571″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_wp_text]Planned Work Areas in the Sanctuary of Apollo Terrace. The primary area for debris processing and removal (Entry to Sanctuary of Apollo Terrace) is marked in red. The secondary areas for water testing and stabilization are marked in blue (Spring of Apollo) and green (Cave of Mithras). (Adapted from Cirene, ed. Bonacasa and Ensoli, 2000.)
[/vc_wp_text][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner css=”.vc_custom_1738696868497{padding-right: 5px !important;}”][vc_column_text]The Cyrene Conservation Initiative has three main objectives:1. Document and Protect Heritage:
- Stabilize and document architectural and archaeological remains, including documenting newly exposed archaeological components, and stabilizing the northern end of the Stepped Portico.
- Clear flood debris and vegetation from affected areas. Material from the flood zone will be screened during removal to collect archaeological materials displaced from elsewhere on site.
- Collect masonry for use in future restoration projects.
- Work with DoA and the Municipality of Shahat to reduce future flooding risks in the Valley Street and Sanctuary of Apollo terrace.
2. Restore Safe Access:
- Secure visitor routes, including the Cave of Mithras and the springs at the southern end of the terrace.
- Assess and repair the loose stone in the grotto ceiling.
- Improve the path down Valley Street to the Sanctuary of Apollo terrace so visitors can reach it safely.
The Cave of Mithras work area. (DOA/Â鶹ֱ²¥)
[/vc_wp_text][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_single_image image=”105570″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1758815584664{margin-right: 10px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;}”][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][vc_wp_text]The area of the Fountain of Apollo. The water quality in this spring will be tested and the water in the front area will be cleaned of debris. (DOA/Â鶹ֱ²¥)
[/vc_wp_text][mk_padding_divider size=”10″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner css=”.vc_custom_1738696868497{padding-right: 5px !important;}”][vc_column_text]3. Improve Understanding:- Create on-site educational materials, particularly with new bilingual (Arabic and English) interpretive panels on the Sanctuary of Apollo terrace.
- Provide detailed descriptions in both languages for the Temple of Apollo, the Spring of Apollo, and the Baths of Trajan, among other locations and key features so visitors can better understand the site’s history.