This was the afternoon of the day that we visited Chenini. This is Ksar Ouled Sotane, another fortified storehouse for grains and also in the Tataouine district. It was also constructed by Berber people on a hilltop to help protect it from raiding parties in previous centuries. My understanding is that this was built in the 15th century.

An important point is that these buildings have survived not only raiders but a very hot climate. The walls are thick so that even in the Sahara Desert heat, they stayed cool enough to protect the grain. This granary featured multi-story vaulted granary cellars, spread out over two courtyards. This visit was one of the trip highlights for me.

These are photos from Ksar Ouled Sotane.

The first photo is one corner of one of the two courtyards in Ksar Ouled Sotane. The palm trees were in the middle of the courtyard.

The second photo is a closer view of some of the buildings.

The third photo was taken near the second photo but looking back. This is all one of the two courtyards.

Vicky is testing the 15th century construction. She found out that it’s still very stable.

The next photo is just to show that they hoisted the grain up by way of ropes and pulleys or some such method. The board or tree branch at the top was used for hauling up the grain.

Ksar Ouled Sotane impressed George Lucas when he visited here. This was another key discovery in Tataouine that had a big impact on the Star Wars movie series. We were told that scenes in four of the six Star Wars films were filmed here. For instance, we were told that Ksar Ouled was the slave quarters where Anakin and his mother lived in the ‘Phantom Menace.’ And again, George Lucas also took names from here for his movies.

We were surprised and delighted to have an Obi-Wan Kenobi sighting while visiting here. He looks bigger than in the movies but this is real life.

The second photo is the inside of one of the grain storage rooms. There’s not much to the insides.

In another Obi-Wan sighting, there seems to be a disturbance in the Force, based on the expression on Obi-Wan’s face!

We did find two businesses open here including this guy selling coffee and his artworks.

The last photo is just a close-up of some of the buildings. I found this place magical.