Libya’s largest and most spectacular example of Berber architecture is Qasr Al-Haj (Qasr means both castle and a fortified granary). The circular and completely enclosed granary was built in the 12^th c. to store and protect the harvest of the surrounding area.

From the courtyard one can see all 114 storage rooms, exactly the number of suras in the Koran. There are three storeys of rooms above the ground and another 30 underground.

Access to the upper storeys. Some are still in use today.

Tarmeisa (some 15 mi SW of Qasr Al-Haj) is an abandoned Berber stone village on a narrow outcrop overlooking the Sahel al-Jefara. The local youth on the left not only climbed the steep rocks like a lizard…

…he also jumped between the rocks, and that in sandals.

The old stone village.

Mosque and mihrab.

This room has some Hebrew inscriptions.

In the adjacent modern village, Yvonne made friends with local girls who just returned from school. This picture illustrates why Yvonne later also wore a scarf. While it’s not mandatory in Libya, it makes a foreign female not stand out that much.

Grain mill.

Another view of old Tarmeisa.

We visited a few of the preserved Berber underground houses which provide refuge from cold winters and hot summers. On the right is a courtyard as seen from above.

Typical Berber furnishings.

Right and below is one of the underground rooms.

Time hasn’t changed that much.

At the western end of the Jebel Nafusa, the regional center of Nalut is home to another exceptional qasr as well as an old town tumbling down a hill.

This is a mosque with its minaret.

The architecture of the qasr is reminiscent of what we found in Tunisia and which was made famous through star war movies that were filmed in such structures.

Underground rooms (see above) were used to preserve olive oil; above ground rooms customarily housed barley and wheat.

Access to the upper storage areas is provided with pulleys.