Ghadames

Ghadames
Photo in the Public Domain.

Ghadames is an oasis town and one of the oldest pre-Saharan cities. The city has played an important role in the trans-Saharan trade network for over 2,000 years.

The designated area comprises the old part of the town, which is surrounded by a wall. It has its own unique architecture. Each of the seven clans that used to live in this part of the town had its own district, of which each had a public place where festivals could be held.

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Thomas Buechler

Switzerland - 20-Oct-13 -

Ghadames by Thomas Buechler

In the distant corner where Libya, Algeria and Tunesia meet,is Ghadames, an ancient Sahara outpost that was already mentionned in the time of Roman emperor Septimius Severus, 200 after Christ.The jewel of the oasis is the walled old city where 7 clans used to live seperately, but with an identical set up.Around 40 families, the heads meeting regularely to discuss matters and make decisions, a kind of early stage parliament right in the desert.Renowed for its distinctive architecture, we visit the old mosque and the Koranic school, the old butchery, a tailorshop, and a bakery right besides the living quarters.Some of them have been renovated and beautifully decorated.Nice fruit and vegetable gardens as well.It is possible to wander around on the rooftops from one house to the other on narrow house walls, which feels sometimes like a circus acrobat.Women in the old times were forbidden to wander the streets alone, and they used the rooftops as a thoroughfare.

Ghadames can be reached by private car, in a public bus or in shared taxis.Its s whole day trip.

Wortwhile stops are Qasr al-Hadj, Nalut or Cabao with its wonderful food storage fortresses and would be canditates for Unesco if Libya will ever have a tentative list!

We spent an unforgettable sunset time at the summit of the Ghost (Ras al Ghoul) and the huge sand dunes of Erg Oriental, very close to the Algerian border.

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Site Info

Full Name
Old Town of Ghadames
Unesco ID
362
Country
Libya
Inscribed
1986 - In Danger
Type
Cultural
Criteria
5
Categories
Urban landscape - African
Link
By ID

Site History

2016 In Danger

Simultaneously with the four other World Heritage sites of Libya "because of damage caused by the conflict affecting the country and the threat of further damage it poses".

1986 Inscribed

Site Links

Unesco Website
Old Town of Ghadames
Official Website

Ghadames

In the News

Mayor of Ghadames urges UNESCO to remove old city from list of threatened sites (2022.05.16)

Clashes in Libyan oasis town Ghadames kill seven, wound more than 20 (2012.05.23)

Forces loyal to Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi are attacking the western city of Ghadames which boasts a Unesco World Heritage site (2011.06.12)

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Ghadames

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Architecture
Vernacular architecture: A remarkable domestic architectural style distinguishes Ghadames as a unique site among a series of pre-Saharan cities and settlements (AB ev)
Constructions
Walled cities
Damaged
Damaged in World War II: "Until World War 2, Ghadames was the home of Libya's oldest mosque, the Atik...built in 666, but destroyed by Allied bombing. A new mosque has been erected in its place."
Geography
Sahara: " the city has played an important role in the trans-Saharan trade network" (OUV)
History
Trans Saharan trade routes: "During the 7th century, Ghadames was ruled by the Muslim Arabs. The population quickly converted to Islam and Ghadames played an important role as base for the Tans-Saharan trade until the 19th century." (Wiki)
Berbers: La popolazione locale - costituita in prevalenza da berberi sedentari, ma la citté - anche frequentata da tuareg nomadi... La lingua parlata prevalentemente a Ghadames - un dialetto berbero. (Wiki)
Ancient Roman colonies: Cydamus
Religion and Belief
Legends and Folk Myths: Daily raids brought the riders to travel the desert hundreds of miles. One day a thirsty horse refused to move and began to hit the ground until the water burst forth under his hooves. It was called " Source of the mare ." A dispute broke out among the riders and those who parted the group returned to the miraculous spring to erect the city. Every year in November, three days , a festival featuring performances and dances revive the Ksar. (Wiki) The alternative theory for the name, as espoused by the local populace (i.e. a popular etymology), is that the oasis of Ghadames derives from the Arabic words for lunch ("Ghada") and yesterday ("ams"). The words are contracted to form an approximation of "lunch yesterday." By lore, a group that had camped near the oasis left materials from the previous day's campfire cookout. When the steward tasked to retrieve the materials returned to the site, the hoof of his horse broke through to the water of the oasis that now lies at the center of the town. Whether or not this legend is true, the oasis was the reason the town appeared and has remained in this most remote region of the desert. (Wiki)
Timeline
Built in the 12th century: The settlement at Ghadames goes back at least 5000 years.The first historical information is from 19 BCE when the Romans named it Cydamus. It owed its later significance to its location on one of the major routes of trans-Saharan trade from the Niger area which grew in size based on use of the camel from c300ad and the Islamisation of both Ghadames and on into W Africa during the 7th/8th centuries. This trade continued through to the 19th century. The town's original mosque is said to have been dated from 666AD. The architecture and layout of Ghadames will have developed organically over that period. The Libyan People's Bureau places the age of the current town at 800 years.
Trivia
Minority communities: Tuareg Berbers
Swan songs: Libya 1986
Role of Women: The upper floors used to be reserved to women only. They were often interconnected between adjacent buildings so that men could avoid women.
World Heritage Process
Inscribed on a single criterion only: v. to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change

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