The Old Town of Ghadames

The city of Ghadames is constructed in a unique engineering form as a human settlement that goes back up to 12.000 years ago and the date of construction of the current city is not known but the discovery of a stony artifacts and rock engravings confirms thereby human activities that goes back to deep-rooted periods of prehistoric phases

The city played a significant role in linking the cities of North Africa with those of  central and western Africa. It is used to be and still an important civilization and commercial center and distinguished by the diversity of its customs, traditions, its economic and social system which made it the center of interest of many writers, researchers

It possess numerous handwritten scientific libraries and many commercial documents, universities and mosques, small mosques, information. It played a significant role in strengthening and the propagation of the principles of Sharia overall the  African territories and all of that has qualified it for the  membership of the Arabic Organization of Ancient Cities in 1982 and considered by UNESCO as an international heritage city in 1986 and granted a certificate by the Organization of the International Heritage Cities In 1999 and the United Nation Developmental Program (UNDP) contributed in the study of many of its aspects and carried out a  maintenance programme of the old city of Ghadames