Monday, October 19, 2009

The Fortified Granaries of North Africa




When I lived in Libya I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful fortified Berber granaries, which dot the northern fringes of the Sahara in Libya itself as well as in the neighbouring country of Tunisia. These qasrs, or ksars, are up to one thousand years old. They were used to protect food supplies from raiding parties.

The one featured in the first two pictures, Ksar Ouled Soltane, may look familiar to you, as it featured as slave quarters in one of the highest grossing movies of all time, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

The third photo is of the perfectly circular fort of Qasr al-Haj in Libya, which has been in continuous use by the Berbers for more than 800 years.

7 comments:

  1. Three beautiful photos... George Lucas could be jealous ;)

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  2. wow, that one is a beautiful scenery for sure o.o

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  3. Oh...the places you have been and seen!
    How is the project getting along to write your book about all your travels? I would be one of the first to buy it!

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  4. Wow. That is really beautiful. I know of a few books that could have been set there too!

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  5. have you ever written for the travel industry in any form? you should. thx for those pics, dead interesting as many of the spots you show.

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  6. These pictures make the ksars look like miniatures. Your globe-trotting lifestyle makes me jealous.

    -Juanita

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