Ksar Ezzahra

Ksar Ezzahra Tataouine in southern Tunisia, little visited and built around two courtyards, is unique for its location in the heart of the village.

The inhabitants have kept the habit of making it a place of life and you will undoubtedly have the opportunity to see the elders playing Kharbga (game resembling checkers with small pebbles) while the children return from school.

A ghorfa is a semi-cylindrical room with a door opening onto the courtyard. The depth of the room can be between 4 and 5m and the height and width can reach 2m. Two neighboring ghorfas can be communicating.

The ceiling of the ghorfa can be adorned with inscriptions and decorations. The ventilation of the room is done by two perforated holes in the interior and exterior walls.

The ksar is divided into two parts: an old part of square shape (fifty meters in diameter) and a more recent part (Ksar Jedid) of rectangular shape (70 meters by 90). A covered entrance (skifa) connects the two parts.

The number of ghorfas varies according to the sources: 270, 415 and 326. The whole rises essentially on three to four floors.

The ksar has been restored. If the old part with its ghorfas without doors is no longer used, some ghorfas of the newer part are still used for storage and small businesses.

Access to the upper ghorfas is via a rudimentary staircase made up of bars of olive wood.