View from the upper part of the theater northward to the port city of Apollonia on the Mediterranean coast. Cyrene and Apollonia were two of the five cities of the Libyan Pentapolis in Cyrenaica.

Saif-al Islam Gaddafi views a model representing this important site and surrounding buffer zones. On September 21, 2007, he announced the Cyrene Declaration launching the Green Mountain Initiative – a large scale conservation and development project intended to create sustainable tourism around local cultural and natural assets.

Work on the theater will permit Libyan partners to gain valuable skills and knowledge of international conservation standards. The project includes an integrated program of excavation, restoration and authentic reconstruction.

The Temple of Zeus, the largest Greek pantheon outside of Athens, was restored by two archaeological missions during the 1960s. Built around 600 B.C., it has suffered great damage from neglect over the years. Aging reinforced concrete and deteriorating exposed iron are among the threats currently challenging this treasure.