Libya's Red Castle museum opens for first time since fall of Gaddafi

Statues are displayed inside the National Museum, the largest in Tripoli, following its reopening after nearly 14 years of closure, in Tripoli, Libya, December 12, 2025. Libyan Government Platform/Handout via REUTERS

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Libya's national museum, formerly known as As-Saraya Al-Hamra or the Red Castle, has reopened in Tripoli, allowing the public access to some of the country's finest historical treasures for the first time since the revolt that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

The museum, Libya's largest, wasclosed in 2011 during a NATO-backed uprising against longtime ruler Gaddafi, who appeared on the castle's ramparts to deliver a fiery speech.