SW RECCE SITE FOUND: KSAR OULED DEBBAB

10 July 2021

As the first success in the groundbreaking effort to identify all Star Wars franchise scouted sites in Tunisia, Galaxy Tours CEO (Davin Anderson) in close cooperation with Tataouine-based freelance photographer Mohamed Ghdiri discovered on 10 July 2021 a “lost” Star Wars scouted site in the Tunisian Tataouine region. The search to identify Ksar Ouled Debbab as a franchise recce site spanned more than 12 months.

Site: Ksar Ouled Debbab
Region: Tataouine | Southeast Tunisia
GPS: 32.869731, 10.381757
Description: Amazigh fortified granary (mid-18th century CE)
Potential set concept: Mos Eisley | slums street

The recce photographs that led to this discovery were taken by John Barry (production designer) during the mid-November 1975 Star Wars location scout in Tunisia. The primary focus area in Barry’s five photos is the northwest courtyard/northeast wall at Ksar Ouled Debbab. Major renovations to transform the site into a hotel started in 2004. Visual comparisons with pre-2004 photos reveal key structural similarities, in particular remnants of a stand-alone small-scale wall extending into the courtyard, to verify the location as the same captured in Barry’s photos.

The post-renovation architecture renders the Ksar Ouled Debbab recce photos only faintly recognizable.