Libya: Ghadames – Exploring the Old Town

Ghadames is t like the Hoky Grail of traveling deep into the western Libya – known as the “Pearl of the Desert,” it is an ancient oasis town near the borders with Algeria and Tunisia, 462 km southwest of Tripoli. It’s one of the oldest pre-Saharan settlements, dating back to 4th century BC, and was a key hub for trans-Saharan trade from the Roman period through the 19th century. The town was called Cydamus by the Romans, and later came to be occupied by various powers, including Muslim Arabs in the 7th century, Italians in 19th century, and French is the 1940s. The old town is the main attraction here, a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for unique mud-brick architecture designed to cope with extreme desert temperatures – almost like a city from another planet! designed to cope with extreme desert temperatures. Houses feature a vertical layout: ground floors for storage and covered dark alleyways, family living spaces above, and interconnected rooftop terraces traditionally reserved for women, forming a separate network of pathways. The city was inhabited by seven different Berber clans, and each had a separate part of town with different marking and acres to water. Each clan had its own mosque, school, and public square. The town’s Ain al-Faras spring, central to its oasis ecosystem, supported date palm cultivation and sustained life in the arid region. You can get absolutely lost exploring the passageways and admiring the architecture and mudbrick buildings and decorations on the walls. And the most famous mosque in Ghadames is even featured on the Libyan currency!