Tocra, the ancient Taucheira or Teucheira, in Cyrenaica was founded probably in the sixth century B.C. from Barce, to which it belonged in the time of Herodotus. Although it lies in what is now an easily accessible part of Cyrenaica, it has been very little visited by modern scholars. As is the case elsewhere in Cyrenaica, the outlines of the ancient city emerge distinctly from the ground even before excavation. The perfectly preserved circuit of the city walls goes back in origin perhaps to the fourth century B.C., but owes its present form to a reconstruction by Justinian after the defeat of the Vandals by Belisarius in A.D. 533. The stones for building the walls were taken from earlier buildings in the city, which thereby suffered much damage.