EXCLUSIVEFar, far away from the tourist 追跡する: Inside the みごたえのある abandoned citadel in an otherworldly landscape that could be mistaken for 星/主役にする Wars 惑星 Tatooine

訪問者s could be forgiven for thinking it's a long time ago in a 星雲 far, far away.

For the abandoned citadel of?Guermassa in Tunisia sits in an otherworldly landscape redolent of the 近郊 of 星/主役にする Wars' Tatooine.

This is not a coincidence: nearby Tataouine city - the 資本/首都 of the Tataouine Governate - 供給するd the architectural inspiration for Luke Skywalker's home 惑星, if not the 狙撃 場所 (that's Matmata, in the north east).?

Guermassa itself is the 指名する of one of Tatooine's moons in the space saga. 研究ing the 場所/位置 is 複雑にするd by the fact that knowledge of the fictional 天体 is much greater than its terrestrial - and indeed real - 相当するもの.?

Though this 肉親,親類d of 防備を堅める/強化するd village, with its golden clay 塀で囲むs, is ありふれた in the Tataouine 地域 of Tunisia, Guermassa is a uniquely みごたえのある example - and 大部分は ignored by tourists.?They're 行方不明の out.

The abandoned citadel of Guer
massa is located in Tunisia's Tataouine region - a lunar-like landscape redolent of the otherworldly environs of Star Wars' Tatooine

The abandoned citadel of Guermassa is 位置を示すd in Tunisia's Tataouine 地域 - a lunar-like landscape redolent of the otherworldly 近郊 of 星/主役にする Wars' Tatooine

Guermassa is the name of one of Tatooine's moons in the Star Wars saga. Researching the site is complicated by the fact that knowledge of the fictional celestial body is much greater than its terrestrial - and indeed real - counterpart

Guermassa is the 指名する of one of Tatooine's moons in the 星/主役にする Wars saga. 研究ing the 場所/位置 is 複雑にするd by the fact that knowledge of the fictional celesti al 団体/死体 is much greater than its terrestrial - and indeed real - 相当するもの

Though this kind of fortified village, with its golden clay walls, is common in Tataouine, Guermassa is a uniquely spectacular example - and largely ignored by tourists

Though this 肉親,親類d of 防備を堅める/強化するd village, with its golden clay 塀で囲むs, is ありふれた in Tataouine, Guermassa is a uniquely みごたえのある example - and 大部分は ignored by tourists?

The 要塞/本拠地, an outpost of the 半分-nomadic Amazigh tribe and 現在/一般に under consideration to be 名簿(に載せる)/表(にあげる)d as a Unesco World 遺産 場所/位置, 栄冠を与えるs?a 山の尾根 of the Dahar Mountains, majestic - yet since the 1970s, neglected.?From a distance, it is barely distinguishable from its rocky 側面に位置するs, as pictures show.

It's 構成するd of?dwellings carved into and built from the surrounding 激しく揺する, with 見解(をとる)s?stretching from Tataouine to Jebi l 国家の Park in the east.

A sprawling 場所/位置, Guermassa garlands the mountain 首脳会議 it's built on like a 珊瑚 暗礁, then cascades over the ridgeline and 負かす/撃墜する the slopes of a 隣人ing mountain - a labyrinthine 宙返り/暴落する of honeycomb streets, multistory houses, 穀物 蓄える/店s, 洞穴s and 宗教的な 神社s.??

The stronghold, an outpost of the semi-nomadic Amazigh tribe and currently under consideration to be listed as a Unesco World Heritage site, crowns a ridge of the Dahar Mountains, majestic - yet since the 1970s, neglected

The 要塞/本拠地, an outpost of the 半分-nomadic Amazigh tribe and 現在/一般に under consideration to be 名簿(に載せる)/表(にあげる)d as a Unesco World 遺産 場所/位置, 栄冠を与えるs a 山の尾根 of the Dahar Mountains, majestic - yet since the 1970s, neglected

Guermassa is a labyrinthine tumble of honeycomb streets, multistory houses, grain stores, caves and religious shrines

Guermassa is a labyrinthine 宙返り/暴落する of honeycomb streets, multistory houses, 穀物 蓄える/店s, 洞穴s and 宗教的な 神社s

WHY DOES GUERMASSA STAND ABANDONED??

Habib Bourguiba became Tunisia's first 大統領,/社長 in 1956 after the country won independence from French 植民地の 支配する. An 断言するd secularist, Bourguibas was 決定するd to modernise the nation, introducing 教育の 改革(する)s, 農業の 政策s and freedoms for woman (one UAE 出版(物) called him 'a 完全に modern autocrat').

Part of his 率先 伴う/関わるd building modern dwellings to rehouse Amazigh from their more 伝統的な homes - some argue to dilute the Amazigh 全住民 and 統合する them into Arab communities to 避ける an 反乱.?

The allure of these modern 開発s was strong: running water, electricity, schools, hospitals and 覆うd roads.

その結果, by the 1970s, Guermassa was abandoned. The 半端物 所有/入手 left by former inhabitants can still be seen, 明らかに - empty olive oil jars, boxes of tea, painted palm 支持を得ようと努めるd doors.

Some find the 影響 to be eerie - these 痕跡s of abandoned 存在 standing as a Pompeii wrought of 進歩.?

For Oscar, however, Guermassa is a place of wonder - 'one of my 絶対の favourite 場所/位置s in the entire country' - a testament to the 産業, 発明 and art of the Amazigh people.

宣伝

Its history tells of a fascinating, resourceful people. The ksar - '砂漠 城' - used to operate as a 会合 point for the Amazigh. They 蓄える/店d their 収穫s there, 安全な from marauding horsemen, in ghorfas (蓄える/店 rooms), dug into the ground for natural refrigeration from the ferocious heat.

The community built this craggy bronze beehive 頂上に a mountain to 許す a (疑いを)晴らす vantage of 可能性のある Arab invaders.?

Oscar Scafidi, a British-Italian travel writer and presenter of YouTube channel ScafidiTravels, visited Guermassa as part of a wider 小旅行する of Tataouine Governorate in Tunisia's south.

He told MailOnline Travel: 'Guermassa is in the same mould as [nearby] Chenini or Douiret, but with far より小数の 訪問者s, which makes it a unique experience to visit. You are very likely to have the place to yourself if you come up here.

'The village stretches almost 1.5km along a ridgeline of the Dahar Mountains. This Amazigh 丘の頂上 解決/入植地 was built in the 7th or 8th centuries AD around the Zaouia (神社) of Sidi Hamza ? the son of a mythical 宗教上の man (Sidi Ibrahim) who was 初めは from Kairouan.'

Oscar here 言及するs to the 初めの 解決/入植地, though archaeologists 見積(る) the 現在の ghorfa of Guermassa was built in the 12th century, to keep 穀物, dates and oil 安全な.

The Amazigh excavated their 穀物 蓄える/店s from softer 激しく揺する in the hillside, leaving harder 激しく揺する in place as 増強 to create 床に打ち倒すs and 天井s. The abodes were built 頂上に them, 非常線,警戒線d into areas によれば 機能(する)/行事 - cooking, sleeping.

Each house has its own 盗品故買者d-in 中庭, while 際立った pathways connect all the dwellings i n the village.

The village itself is in a 明言する/公表する of 廃虚, though Oscar 公式文書,認めるs some 復古/返還 has been carried out to 保存する select buildings - 顕著に the freshly painted イスラム教寺院 and path to the village.?

And though the building 内部のs are dilapidated, most of the structures themselves show little 調印する of 腐食, にもかかわらず the 猛烈な/残忍な Saharan sun.?

Oscar said: 'The 廃虚d multistory structures, some with their 初めの doorways still in place, are fascinating to walk around.

Guermassa is comprised of dwellings carved into and built from the surrounding rock, with views stretching from Tataouine to Jebil National Park in the east

Guermassa is 構成するd of dwellings carved into and built from the surrounding 激しく揺する, with 見解(をとる)s stretching from Tataouine to Jebil 国家の Park in the east?

The Mosque, which has been freshly painted. Travel writer Oscar Scafidi describes the stronghold as one of his favourite spots in Tunisia

The イスラム教寺院, which has been freshly painted. Travel writer Oscar Scafidi 述べるs the 要塞/本拠地 as one of his favourite 位置/汚点/見つけ出すs in Tunisia

'Just outside is a weathered graveyard,' says?Oscar, 'where ancient human remains can be seen, exposed to the elements'

'Just outside is a 天候d graveyard,' says?Oscar, 'where 古代の human remains can be seen, exposed to the elements'

THE AMAZIGH

The Amazigh - いつかs referred to as Berbers - are an indigenous people across North Africa.?

'Berber' has pejorative connotations,? 割り当てるd to them by the 征服する/打ち勝つing Arabs and is derived from the Greek word Barbaroi - barbarian.

By contrast, Amazigh means '解放する/自由な man' in their native language, Tamazight, and connotes 存在 解放する/自由な from the dominion of 侵略するing 軍隊s.

In an 成果/努力 to 避ける 迫害 from 連続する invaders, the Tunisian Amazigh took to the mountain 範囲s and developed abodes to help them 生き残る in unfavorable, even 敵意を持った, natural 環境s.?

Their troglodytic villages, built into 洞穴s along 山腹s or dug into the 国/地域 to be under ground, 許すd them to escape the 厳しい heat.?

Today, the Amazigh 構成する two per cent of the Tunisian 全住民.?

宣伝

'There is a turquoise-and-white 神社 featuring Arabic inscriptions and handprints on the 内部の.?

'Just outside is a 天候d graveyard where 古代の human remains can be seen, exposed to the elements.'

Although there are no nearby dar (homes repurposed as hotels, 類似の to Moroccan riads) it is 平易な to reach Guermassa 経由で car.?

Oscar told MailOnline Travel: 'It is easily accessible 経由で a good-質 road that links nearby Tataouine town to Ghomrassen. Chenini is いっそう少なく than 8km to the south, with Douiret only 14km away. With a 地元の guide, you can 現実に trek between these three amazing Amazigh 丘の頂上 解決/入植地s.

'The Tunisian-owned ecotourism group 目的地 Dahar?has put together a 200km (124-mile) multi-day 引き上げ(る)ing 大勝する through the Dahar Mountain chain called La Grande Travers? du Dahar, which takes in some of the most amazing 場所/位置s in this part of the country.

'You can even (軍の)野営地,陣営 up here and wake up to an incredible sunrise over the 砂漠, but be sure to bring all your own 供給(する)s!'

Oscar 追加するs that Guermassa is a place of wonder - 'one of my 絶対の favourite 場所/位置s in the entire country' - a testament to the 産業, 発明 and art of the Amazigh people.?

ビデオ 儀礼 of Oscar Scafidi, a British-Italian travel writer who has lived, worked and travelled across 30 African countries. He is the author of the Bradt Guides to Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Tunisia. Scafidi has also written a travel narrative, Kayak the Kwanza, about his Guinness World 記録,記録的な/記録する-setting source-to-sea 航海 of Angola’s longest river, the Kwanza, a 旅行 of over 1,300km (807 miles).?

Oscar told MailOnline Travel: 'Guermassa is in the same mould as [nearby] Chenini or Douiret, but with far fewer visitors, which makes it a unique experience to visit'

Oscar told MailOnline Travel: 'Guermassa is in the same mould as [nearby] Chenini or Douiret, but with far より小数の 訪問者s, which makes it a unique experience to visit'?

Though abandoned, Guermassa stands as?a testament to the industry, invention and art of the Amazigh people

Though abandoned, Guermassa stands as?a testament to the 産業, 発明 and art of the Amazigh people

The buildings have not succumbed to er
osion, despite the arid heat of the Sahara

The buildings have not succumbed to 腐食, にもかかわらず the arid heat of the Sahara

Oscar said:?'You can camp [at the site] and wake up to an incredible sunrise over the desert, but be sure to bring all your own supplies!'

Oscar said:?'You can (軍の)野営地,陣営 [at the 場所/位置] and wake up to an incredible sunrise over the 砂漠, but be sure to bring all your own 供給(する)s!'