Video: "Pearl of the Desert": the amazing city of Ghadames in the heart of the Sahara
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In the middle Sahara lies a half-abandoned city called Ghadameswhere ancient architectural traditions are still alive. Unique buildings attract not only tourists, but also numerous inhabitants of neighboring, more modern cities located in Ghadames coolness that air-conditioned rooms cannot give them.
Like many other ancient cities, Ghadames appeared at the crossroads of caravan routes. Trade routes crossed in this place is not accidental: in the oasis city, also known as the "pearl of the desert", travelers could find a temporary shelter from the unbearable heat of the Sahara.
The exact date of foundation Ghadames unknown, but the first mentions of it date back to the first century AD and refer to the time of the Roman conquest. With the arrival of the Romans, a new stage in the history of the city began, namely the period of European domination. At first Ghadames was a Roman fortress, then Byzantine missionaries brought Christianity here and made the city the center of a bishopric. But history has taken a new turn and at the moment one of the mosques of the modern city rests on the pillars of the ancient church.
The buildings of the era of barbarism in the city have not survived, as well as buildings from the period of the Roman conquest, but the local architecture has retained many traditional features. Residential buildings are divided into three floors. The first level serves as a kind of "refrigerator": food supplies are stored there. Small passages are left between adjacent cellars, over which other floors are then built. This is how numerous "underground passages" are formed, which serve for local movement around the city. On the second floor of residential buildings there is a "family part", and the third level is open "terraces", a kind of public places. It should be noted that the third floor is almost entirely owned by women, walking on the roofs of city houses, they communicate with neighbors and make new acquaintances.
Unusual urban layout Ghadames can be appreciated even in a photograph published National Geografic.
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