Things to see and do Libyan Sahara

It is also possible to visit the old town of Jedid, the historic heart of Sebha now emptied of its inhabitants. Quite difficult to find. Ask "medina al-gadima Jedid".

It is now inhabited by Correspondent, the great nomads living between Libya, Niger and above all Chad. There is a beautiful Ottoman fort at the palm wood door, which can be visited when the guard is there.

Much more impressive is the market visit to the camels of Sebha, one of the most important of the country, where sheep and camelidae arrive from the Niger and Chad. Very impressive during the days preceding the Eid holidays. Difficult to find. The simplest is to take the outer boulevard of the city side west and then to ask the road to the Al-Jimal souk. you will have to go into a very modest area of barracks, enclos and workshops before reaching the market.

Overlooking the city and built near the airport, it was built by the Ottomans and occupied by Italian troops (1929-1943) and French (1943-1951). This garrison function is still current, and you will not be able to visit or photograph it.

A length of 22 m, it presents 26 columns with capitals. There is a koutab (school) where children learn the Koran. The prayer room is closed to the visits (it only opens for Friday prayer), but the corner of des, with its half-subterranean niches, supported by twisted columns. This mosque marks the border between the two large districts of Ghadamès, the Beni Oulid and the Beni Ouazit. Columns, capitals and decor come from a church of the Byzantine era and were recovered to dress mosques and public squares.

Located at the western end of the city, the founding source of the oasis of Ghadamès was 6 m deep in its centre and "water at 30 ° C. It irrigated virtually all the gardens of the palm grove, directly via seguia, small canals where the water ran towards each plot.

Where séguia did not surrender, balancier wells (dalou) were allowed to extract and transport water. The amount of water allocated to each garden was cleverly determined: a percé cup, the gâddous, was the unit of minimum irrigation time, the quantity of which then varied depending on the day and night: The day noûba had fifteen times fewer units of hydraulic time than the night noûba. Similarly, each seguia had a number of different hydraulic time units depending on the quantity of gardens served.

However, the sophistication of the hydraulic system did not prevent the flow of the source from at the end of the th century falling. Work was undertaken that Italians continued in the 1930 s, even to build a deep well to extend the palm grove to the east, but without great success. Under French administration, in the 1940 s, another well was drilled and the concrete irrigation canals, as seen near the gardens near the Ain el-Faras source. In the mid th century, the Ain el-Faras source was used only for irrigation in the northwest and southwest of the oasis.

In December 2005, important work on upgrading dry artesian well was carried out in partnership with UNDP. The source has been renovated and refurbished, and during the event the children have come diving so it is true that it has the size of a beautiful swimming pool. During our last passage, she underwent further maintenance work. The approaches of the old town behind the source have also recently been the subject of renovation by the UNESCO programme, such as the large door overlooking the oasis on the right, surmounted by a growing and star.

To the west of the source, you can see a former water where the camels come refreshing after their long Saharan crossings.

This small mosque in the middle of the cemetery, each of which is a small stone, is the oldest in the city. Founded by the first Arab conquerors, it continues to be maintained, although the inhabitants no longer pray.

UNESCO participated here in the restoration of tombs, requesting the help of bricklayers who made the new bricks in the site of the site. Of the 132 tombs of this site, the most collapsed, some have been renovated. The dead were buried vertically in a burial chamber or burial mound, around which the masons reconstructed walls of pyramid form, ranging from 3 to 3,5 m ² on the ground and 3,5 m in length, on the height.

The old town of toub (dried bricks) is well damaged. It's at the end of the first century. that the inhabitants left the mountain of Zinkekra to settle there. We follow the tracks of a small train that was used to evacuate the land during the archaeological excavations conducted by the Italians. In the first part of the site, the stone foundations were Roman buildings. The highest building was certainly a garamantique castle, which became the old kasbah (house of the city's governors), which now looks at the dried oasis.

Here is a description of the places made by a French ethnographer in the 1940 s, shortly after his abandonment: " The former Jerma, abandoned in recent years [1932] because of malaria, is a fortified town. Built in amphitheatre on a mound, surrounded by palm trees, it has two narrow main streets. It is surrounded completely by a ditch filled with water by outpouring of the water table […] and continuous ramparts encompassing a less ancient unit of appearance in the East […]. The Kasbah which forms the centre of the locality, all at the top, has 5 or 6 high and massive towers combined with a high wall of 4 to 5 m. that a circular lane separates from houses. The whole household in its middle is a vast place in which one accesses one door. This Kasbah is built in sun-dried terracotta bricks, while stones and clays were used to build homes. '»»»»

J. Lethielleux, Le Fezzan: its Gardens and Palms, 1948, Publications of the Institute of Fine Arabic Letters, Tunis.

After a kilometre on a bad path, the rocky spur dominates on the right (left is a dump site…): it was on this spur that the Garamantes built first their city, whose houses ranged from the houses to the top dominating the valley. Surrounded by an enclosure, the town remained inhabited until the end of the th century. C.C.

A large sand dune where one rises to contemplate the sun lie behind the dunes of the Sahara. Taxis or local guides will take you if your agency has not already done so! High arrivals of tourists during the season. On this occasion, camels are posted for tourists, a tour costs between 5 and 10 DL.

These are two small salty lakes surrounded by tamarisks, in the desert! You can bathe.

From the ruins of the desert, we have a beautiful panorama on the border with Algeria and Tunisia. Originally built by the Romans, it was stormed by the Arabs at the time of their conquest of Ghadamès. Local guides or drivers can drive you there.

The mausoleum dates from the first century. C.C.

A museum entirely dedicated to the region of Fezzan, from prehistory (photos of engravings and cave paintings, tools) until today, passing through the exposure of a mummy and reconstitution of a garamantique tomb, with a skeleton in folded position, and giving a good overview of the thousands of garamantiques tombs of the Wadi El-Ajal (also renamed Wadi el-Haya). Explanation in English.

When the guard is not there, the door is sometimes left open. Set at the bottom of an enclosure encompassing a mosque and a large closed paddock serving as a stable, the fortress was built by the Ottomans in the th century. Originally, it was the Moroccan conquerors Aoulad Mohamed el-Fassi who, taking Mourzouk as capital in the th century, built a strong castle at the location of a defensive building. Their reign lasted until their defeat by the Ottomans at the beginning of the th century. After the Turks, Italians used the fortress before they preferred a more modern construction. Made of local materials, rubble and mud, the fortress was designed to support long seats. At the northeast corner, we will notice the killer that was used strategically to protect the entrance. We then move towards the pretty, round and closer minaret at the summit, from the small Jama'a Jouma mosque, in the style more African than Libyan, and where the inhabitants still have their prayers.

Although built by the Ottomans, the mosque is local architecture, perhaps because it interfered in its redevelopment by the Turks. The prayer room has a profusion of pillars - 25 in all -,

the quantity here to compensate for the weakness of construction materials. In front of the prayer room, the tomb of a Ottoman soldier is recognized. The old stables are closed to visitors. Once a year is the local festival of the town of Mourzouk. Before leaving, climb the staircase on the terrace of the enclosure to admire the beautiful overview.

If you go to the city centre, more specifically on the street, which overlooks the major sports stadium, you can stroll through the souk to vegetables under a large cover covered with sheet metal and between the stalls and trinkets held by women.

Azjars is one of the best Saharan agencies in Libya. The teams are fantastic, friendly and very professional. You can prepare with them for 4 x 4 or trekkings expeditions. This local agency is also a reference to French agencies. To have a francophone interlocutor, ask Hamza. Take the time to prepare your project with them as much detail as possible.