Picture this: you’re wandering through a landscape that feels straight out of a sci-fi movie—because, well, it actually is! Ksar Hadada, nestled in southeastern Tunisia, is a quirky little village that’s famous for two things: its ancient mud-brick architecture and its starring role in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Yep, this is where George Lucas set up shop to film scenes for Mos Espa, the fictional hometown of young Anakin Skywalker.
The village itself is a real-life fortress-granary (called a ksar), built by the local Amazigh (Berber) folks in the mid-19th century to store grain and keep it safe from raiders. Today, it’s a bit of a time capsule, with winding alleys, hidden courtyards, most of the buildings are homes, a few have been turned into boutique hotels. The whole place is perched on a small hill, as any good fortress should be
When we were there it was hot, like 45 degrees or so as it was August. The climate is semi-arid, effectively you are in the middle of the desert. but step inside one of these buildings, as we did to have lunch and you realise that they knew how to tame the environment well before they had air-conditioning, whilst not cool, it was certainly more pleasant then being outside.
I'm not like a Star Wars super fan or anything, but there is something cool about You can wandering the same alleys as Qui-Gon Jinn, Padmé, and Shmi Skywalker there are hints here and there like the yellow 'door' in the photo above but unlike some of the other Star Wars places in Tunisia (like Luke's childhood home which is only about a 45 minute drive from here) it's not overdone or cheesy.
It really is a very cool place to wander around and see all of the different shapes and forms, and around each bend you find something new.
