The Beautiful Ghorfa Ksars of Tunisia Meet Star Wars

Landscape Art photos of the beautiful Ghorfa Ksars of Tunisia used as Star Wars Film Sets, by photographer Paul E Williams.

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Landscape Art photos of the beautiful Ghorfa Ksars of Tunisia used as Star Wars Film Sets, by photographer Paul E Williams.

The Beautiful Ghorfa Ksars of Tunisia

Berber Ghorfa Ksars of Tunisia

Berber nomadic traders used to cross the Sahara in the winter with trains of camels and return with luxury items. They sold theses in the markets of Tunisia then bought enough grain and rice to last a year. As they were nomadic and they had no houses and the question of what to do with the food was a big problem.

A Ghorfa is a vaulted store house and a ksar is a fortified village, or in this case fortified ghofas. The mud brick ghorfas are built on top of each other up to 4 storeys high. They surround a square accessed through a fortified gate. The entrances to the ghorfas are on the inside with a protective wall on the outside. The cross Sahara traders could store their food in the ghorfas knowing that it would be safe in the months they were away.

For Star Wars fans, this is what the Phantom Menace films sets look like minus film crew, skywalkers, wookiees and all. They are beautiful mud brick buildings set in a remote part of southern Tunisia on the edge of the Sahara and the Libyan border. Apart from Star Wars fans they are a bit too remote for most tourists. I hope you find the photos interesting. 

See More Photo From the Magreb Desert Dreams Series.

Why is Luke Skywalker’s Home Planet Called Tetooine?

For Star Wars fans the reason why the desert planet Luke Skywalker grew up on is called Tetooine is probably well known. For the rest of us mere mortals its a question that has probably never even entered our minds.

The answer though is that the locations used in Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace are Ksars located in the southern Tunisia region around Tatouine (French tataween) changed by George Lucas to Tetooine.

The location used for Luke Skywalker home was an underground house near Tatouine, now a hotel. Ksar Hadada was also used in the opening scenes of Many Pythons Life of Brian as the birthplace of Brian.