Known as “the pearl of the desert”, on account of its whitewashed buildings, Ghadames is an oasis city in the Sahara desert, c. 462 km southwest of Tripoli, on the border with Algeria and Tunisia. The city is predominantly inhabited by Amazigh Berbers who used to make a living as camel herders and date farmers. Once an important hub for the passing caravans traveling along trans-Saharan trade routes, the walled Old Town of Ghadames and its vernacular architecture are now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and had become a popular tourist destination before the Libyan civil war broke out.
Ghadames has a long settlement history beginning at the latest in the late first millennium BC, associated with an ancient “Phazanian” tribe known as the Tidamensi. The Romans, who first invaded Ghadames in the 1st century AD, referred to the town as “Cadymus”, and ultimately incorporated it into the Roman Empire until the 3rd century AD.
During early Byzantine times, the people of Ghadames converted to Christianity, until the Muslim Arab conquest of the 7th century, when the population converted to Islam. Ghadames reached a peak between the 13th and 16th centuries, and became part of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th to the early 20th century, maintaining a uniquely local character throughout the changing times.
The architecture of the Old Town is characterized by locally sourced materials such as mudbrick, lime plaster uncut stone and palm logs. An ensemble that offers excellent thermal regulation, so much so, that the residents of Ghadames, who have largely moved to modern homes outside of the Old Town, return to their old houses in the hot summer months, as they are cooler than the newly built structures.
The interconnected rooftops of the Old Town were once used as thoroughfares, and were reserved for women, while the covered alleyways and streets beneath, reserved for men and children, still form a network of shady passageways, protected from the heat of the sun.
After the Old Town was largely abandoned between the 1970’s and 1990’s, its buildings started deteriorating and even collapsing, prompting a series of restorations from 1999 to 2011, using only traditional materials and techniques, and which have since breathed new life into the Old Town.
