Before Muammar Gaddafi took control of Libya in 1969, it was the Italians who ran the show, and their Mediterranean architecture still colours Benghazi's side streets.
But the Italians aren't the only foreign force to have asserted themselves over Libya's second city. Only under Gaddafi has Benghazi been wrestled into subservience to Tripoli, and the new leader did his best to erase meaningful traces of the old.
Now, those who have lived through both eras hope to see a new one that will be Benghazi's own.
Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee reports from Benghazi.
