[5] Fully occupied by Italy by 1925, Gharyan was developed above ground, with a post and telegraph office, a police station, a medical clinic, several schools and a hotel being built between 1925 and 1928.

[13] On 4 April 2019, the city fell to forces loyal to Tobruk-based General Khalifa Haftar as part of a wider Libyan National Army (LNA) offensive in western Libya.

Just west of Gharyan, there is a primitive road to the right, which provides a bumpy trip to a derelict former Italian barracks, a relic of World War II.

Painted on the bricks of one of the walls inside the building is an enormous (c.4m by 10m) representation of a naked woman, lying on her side, American pin-up style.

Saber created the mural to help boost the morale of his fellow servicemen, finishing on 2 March 1943, while his unit was housed for a few days at the barracks in Gharyan.

In the 1920s, the Italians built a 90 kilometres (56 mi) long railway between Tripoli and a village near Gharyan that was destroyed by the British during World War II.