Ghadames

Ghadames stands in an oasis between the Great Eastern Erg and the stony Hamada al-Hamra. Its closely packed houses rise above covered lanes, sheltering the streets from the desert sun. Store rooms occupy the lower levels, living rooms stand above them, and connected roof terraces provide another way through the town. The spring of Ain al-Faras sustains the palm gardens outside the settlement.

Known to the Romans as Cydamae, Ghadames became an important centre of trans-Saharan commerce. Its merchants travelled far beyond the oasis, with communities established at Timbuktu and along the road to Kano. Much of the old town's characteristic architecture belongs to the prosperous centuries of caravan trade between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, caravans continued to connect Ghadames with other Saharan centres, including Ouargla, carrying goods and maintaining ties between their inhabitants.