Three photos of Ksar Ouled in Tunisia

Okay lets talk about Ksar Ouled Soltane. We are just outside of the town of Tataouine which is in Southern Tunisia. If you think that town sounds like a planet in Star Wars that would be because the planet in Star Wars is named after the town in Tunisia, because well they shot a fair amount of Star Wars around here.

Including in Ksar Ouled, which was used in Episode 1 - it was Anakin's home.

In Reality though it is a remarkably well-preserved 15th-century Berber fortified granary located on a hilltop near Tataouine in southern Tunisia. this is what Ksar means, the farmers in the surrounding valleys would store their grains in what are essentially tiny warehouses. You make sure this is on a hill to make it easy to defend from people who may want to steal it.

The stores are constructed using mudbrick, its striking multi-story vaulted chambers (ghorfas) are spread over two courtyards and originally served to store grain and olives for local tribes. The ghorfas, accessible by steep external staircases, provided protection from raiders and a cool refuge from the Sahara heat.

And like most things in Tunisia, the day we visited we were the only people there, just us and our guide wandering around this 15th century relic, which if it was in Spain or Italy or one of those fancy countries would be swarming with tourists.