Gallery
Description
Property Name: Old Town of Ghadamès
Inventory No: 218-484-1
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2008-01-29
Country (State party): Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Province: Ghadamès
Town:
Geographic coordinates: 30° 7′ 60″ N
9° 30′ 0″ E
Historic Period:
Year of Construction:
Style: Pre-Saharan
Original Use: Settlement
Current Use: Settlement
Architect: Unknown
Significance
Ghadamès, known as ‘the pearl of the desert’, stands in an oasis. It is one of the oldest pre-Saharan cities and an outstanding example of a traditional settlement. Its domestic architecture is characterized by a vertical division of functions: the ground floor used to store supplies; then another floor for the family, overhanging covered alleys that create what is almost an underground network of passageways; and, at the top, open-air terraces reserved for the women.
Selection Criteria
v. to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change
State of Preservation
There is a scientific program has being carried out since 1989, with collaboration of an Italian mission, with the aim of studying the local architecture and its concerning materials in all town parts including the designs of its streets, squares, mosques, and monument besides to documentation, and categorizing the monuments and the architectural elements in the unique town.
It has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1986.
References
UNESCO