Travel Guide Tataouine

With its 65,000 inhabitants, Tataouine offers little of interest, although one can appreciate its pleasant atmosphere between two excursions in its rich region. We love its market which attracts, every Monday and Thursday, many farmers of the region. Its gazelle horns are also delicious! The city is known throughout the world for its name, which inspired George Lucas in the choice of the name of the planet of sands of the first part of Star Wars: Tatooine. However, most of the filming did not take place in Tataouine, but in Matmata. Founded under the French protectorate, to ensure the pacification of the south of the country, its name means "water source" in Berber. A tourist hub, it is also famous for the former military prison of the French army that it housed, where the punished of the infantry battalions of Africa were sent. This is where the expression "to go to Tataouine" comes from, initially used to talk about soldiers guilty of insubordination, forced to serve a sentence far - very far - from the Metropolis, in the gaols of this prison. "Leaving for Tataouine" meant not only the idea of an unbearable journey but also that of an arrival in a hellish land. The expression still exists today but it refers to the idea of a trip to the end of the world. Tataouine will be your gateway to a journey to the heart of the superb ksour of the region, some of which are listed below.