In the heart of the colourful Gourara region, we reach the mythical Oasis of Timimoun, an ancient caravan centre in the trans-Saharan trade of Heratin slaves, particularly from Mali and Niger.

While the modern town was built in the 20th century in the Neo-Sudanese style, the ruins of its 12th-century ksar and the dividing walls of its vast palm grove retain their original ancient appearance, the intense reddish colour of the toub clay contrasting with the surrounding dunes and the green of the palm trees. An enchanting scenario for what is known as the ‘Queen of the Desert’, surrounded in turn by ancient ksour scattered on the rocky cliff, and lying not far from where a large salt lake (sebkha) once stood, now an area rich in ‘desert roses’. From the Sudan Gate, to the Sidi Othmane Marabout, from the former Oasis Rouge hotel of 1912, now a cultural centre, to the picturesque market, 20th-century buildings provide a neo-Sudanese backdrop to the medieval, Almohad-style ksar. A swarming of typical handicrafts, particularly textiles, are made by local craftsmen, counterbalancing the peace that reigns in the green palm grove, irrigated by the foggara, providing the two sides of Timimoun’s economy.