Nefta, Mos Espa and Ong Jemel: the Star Wars sets in the desert
West of Tozeur, the holy city of Nefta watches over its "basket" of springs. A little further on, among the dunes, the village of Mos Espa is still waiting for Anakin: the set of The Phantom Menace is still standing.
- From Djerba
- ≈ 380 km
- Driving time
- ≈ 5 h 30
- Suggested time
- ½ day
- Best season
- October → April
Nefta is the last oasis before Algeria, some twenty kilometres west of Tozeur. A holy city of Tunisian Sufism, it has dozens of mosques and zawiyas, and a geological curiosity: the Corbeille, a natural cirque where the springs that water the palm grove below gush out. But if Nefta is known worldwide, it is for what lies hidden in the neighbouring dunes.
Mos Espa, Anakin's village
In 1997, George Lucas's crews built the spaceport of Mos Espa on the edge of the Chott el Gharsa for The Phantom Menace: a street of earthen houses with domed roofs, arcades, and moisture "vaporators" planted in the sand. The set was used again for Attack of the Clones in 2000, then left in place. Twenty-five years later, it is still there, half-swallowed by a slowly advancing dune: you stroll along the street where Qui-Gon meets Anakin, walk into the houses, and photograph the domes against a backdrop of absolute desert.
Ong Jemel, the "camel's neck"
Beside the set, a wind-sculpted rock dominates the plain: Ong Jemel, whose silhouette recalls a resting dromedary. It appears in Episode I (Darth Maul's landing, the Tusken Raiders firing on the pod race) and offers a circular view over the chott, the dunes and Mos Espa. It is also a filming location for The English Patient.
Luke Skywalker's house
Not far away, on the Chott el Jerid, stands the "igloo" of the Lars farm, the exterior of Luke's home in Episode IV (1976) and then in Episodes II and III. Abandoned and then restored by fans in 2012, it can be visited at the same time as Mos Espa. The interior of the house, for its part, is at the Sidi Driss hotel in Matmata.
Nefta itself
- The Corbeille: a viewpoint over the cirque of springs and the palm grove, peaceful, in the late afternoon.
- The old town: ochre bricks as in Tozeur, white domes of marabouts, including the zawiya of Sidi Bou Ali, the town's patron saint.
- The palm grove: crossed by horse-drawn carriage or on foot as far as the dunes bordering it to the south.
On our tours
Mos Espa and Ong Jemel are the star stop of the 3-day Star Wars tour and of the 3-day Djerba → Tozeur tour, by 4×4 from Tozeur, generally in the morning before the heat. Allow 2 to 3 hours on site, plus a visit to Nefta on the way back.
Practical information
- From Djerba: about 380 km; access is from Tozeur (30 to 45 min by road, then track).
- Best season: October to April; in the morning for the light and the cool.
- What to bring: closed shoes (hot sand, rocks), a scarf against the sandy wind, water.
