Misurata's old town preserves some of the character of its pre-colonial past — narrow streets, traditional architecture, and the souq area where trade has happened for centuries. The city sits on the site of an ancient Phoenician trading post, and its position on the Mediterranean coast has made it a commercial hub through Carthaginian, Roman, Arab, Ottoman, and Italian colonial periods. The old city escaped the worst of the 2011 fighting and remains more intact than some parts of the surrounding urban area.
The souq area has been partly reconstructed and is a working market rather than a preserved historic quarter. Textiles, household goods, and food stalls fill the lanes. It's not spectacular by Moroccan or Egyptian standards, but it gives a sense of the North African urban fabric that distinguishes Libyan cities from their Gulf equivalents.