Tataouine: the capital of the ksour, between the Dahar and the Sahara
The town of Tataouine lent its name to Luke Skywalker's planet, but its real treasure lies around it: dozens of ksour, the fortified Berber granaries, and the hilltop villages of Chenini, Douiret and Guermessa.
- From Djerba
- ≈ 150 km
- Driving time
- ≈ 2 h – 2 h 15
- Suggested time
- 1 day with the villages
- Best season
- October → May
Tataouine is a recent town: a military post founded at the end of the 19th century at the foot of the Dahar, which became the capital of the whole Tunisian South-East. People come for its market, its pastries and, above all, because it is the gateway to the ksour and the hilltop Berber villages: Chenini, Douiret, Guermessa, and the fortified granaries of Ksar Ouled Soltane, Ksar Hadada or Ksar Ouled Debbab.
The ksour, granaries of the desert
In the Dahar, each tribe built a ksar: vaulted cells of earth and stone, the ghorfas, stacked on three or four levels around a closed courtyard. Each family kept its reserves there; the ksar also served as a refuge and a marketplace. Dozens remain around Tataouine, some restored, others in ruins on the ridges. Their silhouettes inspired George Lucas's districts of Mos Espa.
What to see around Tataouine
- Chenini (18 km): the most spectacular hilltop village, with its white mosque and the legend of the Seven Sleepers.
- Ksar Ouled Soltane (22 km): the best-preserved ksar, four levels of ghorfas, a setting of Episode I.
- Douiret (22 km): a village abandoned on its peak, underground mosque, trail to Chenini.
- Ksar Hadada (30 km): the slave quarter of Mos Espa in The Phantom Menace.
- Ksar Ouled Debbab (10 km): a large restored ksar beside the Remada road.
- In town: the market (Monday and Thursday), the gazelle-horn pastries, the Memory of the Earth museum (fossils and dinosaurs of the region).
The Ksour Festival
Every spring, the Festival of the Saharan Ksour enlivens Tataouine and the surrounding villages: music, dances, camel races and crafts. If your dates coincide, we adapt the programme.
On our tours
Tataouine is the unavoidable passage of the Tataouine, Chenini & ksour day, of the Sahara via Tataouine and Chenini day to Ksar Ghilane, of the 2 days with a night in a tent tour and of the 3-day Star Wars tour. Depending on the option, we stop for the market, a pastry or lunch.
Practical information
- From Djerba: about 150 km, 2 h to 2 h 15 via the Roman causeway, Zarzis or Medenine.
- Best season: October to May; the Ksour Festival takes place in spring.
- What to bring: closed shoes for the ksour and the villages, a hat, water.
