Date of publication 26/07/2017
The Last Jedi – Tunisia The Star Wars Galaxy in Tunisia
A long time ago, in a galaxy not too far away...
DJERBA
The Tunisian island of Djerba, world-famous for its stunning Mediterranean beaches with fine sand and blue waters, attracts many tourists each year thanks to its fascinating coastline. However, Djerba is much more than sun and sand. It is also a must-visit destination for Star Wars fans as it was chosen as a filming location for this epic saga. Much of ‘Star Wars VI: A New Hope’ was shot here, making it the perfect place to pass the time until the next release. To experience it firsthand, we recommend visiting our 4-star hotel in Djerba that will leave you breathless.
Ajim
In the town of Ajim, a small fishing port on the island of Djerba, George Lucas and his team filmed some exterior scenes of the Mos Eisley Cantina. The chosen building was an old Berber bakery that had been abandoned just before production arrived. On the outskirts of Ajim, at the southwestern tip of the island by the sea, is the exterior of Ben’s house, where Obi-Wan Kenobi lived during his exile. Finally, the Sidi Jemour mosque served as the set for the Anchorhead and Tosche station in a deleted scene from the original film, which did appear in the special and extended edition of ‘A New Hope’.
Matmata
The town of Matmata, located in the south of Tunisia, is one of the most visited places in the country today. In this small town, the Star Wars team found the perfect setting for many interior scenes of the Lars farm, the home where Luke Skywalker grew up on the desert planet of Tatooine. Although in 'Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi', Luke radically changes his home, you can still visit his first home, built following the model of the traditional Berber caves of this town. If you want to visit it, Iberostar offers various hotels in Tunisia that fit your vacation plans.
Originally designed to protect people from the desert heat, the Berbers of Matmata dug large holes in the ground surrounded by a labyrinthine network of underground rooms. Today, these dwellings have become one of the most famous and recognizable Star Wars locations in the world. After filming was completed for the first Star Wars movie, the set was rebuilt in 2000 to shoot scenes from 'Attack of the Clones'. Since then, it has remained intact as a popular tourist destination for fans and visitors.
Tozeur
Although George Lucas had originally envisioned Tatooine as a jungle planet, he later refined his vision, as the idea of filming in the jungle made him uncomfortable. His final choice was the desert of Tunisia, almost at the edges of the Sahara. The beautiful oasis of Tozeur became a perfect place to set many scenes of the epic. Situated among the dunes, the supernatural and isolated landscape surrounding the city did not require much artifice to simulate a distant galaxy. Used for multiple scenes in the Star Wars movies, the surroundings of Tunisia were transformed into Mos Espa and the home of the Lars family. However, filming here was not always easy. An aggressive sandstorm in the desert destroyed many of Tatooine's buildings and delayed shooting for several days. Today, however, much of the original film set remains completely intact and abandoned in the desert, where Mos Espa still fascinates everyone who arrives.
Oung Jmel
The mountain of Oung Jmel (in Arabic, 'Camel Head') is located a few kilometers from the Mos Spa set in southern Tunisia. Scenes from both 'Attack of the Clones' and 'The Phantom Menace' were filmed here, with the Tatooine location where Darth Maul arrived in the middle of the night and where he released the Sith droids to capture Qui-Gon. A false station was built here so that Anakin Skywalker could park his pod. The set remained in the same location at the request of the Tunisian Tourism Office.
Medenine
The city of Medenine, located in southeastern Tunisia, appears in several key scenes of 'Episode I: The Phantom Menace.' This Berber stronghold was an important commercial hub and was filled with small fortresses known as Ksar. The film used one of these structures, Ksar Medenine, to set the slave quarter, as well as the exterior of Anakin Skywalker's house.
Mides Canyon
About forty kilometers from Tozeur, the Mides Canyon stretches over three kilometers through a spectacular and arid landscape. The impressive gorge, with its multiple layers of brick-colored rock, served as the epic setting for the podrace on Tatooine in 'Episode I: The Phantom Menace.' Looking at the seemingly endless landscape of stratified rocks and deep ravines, it’s easy to see why Lucas’ team chose this location for a galaxy far, far away.
Sidi Bouhlel
Many scenes from 'A New Hope' and 'The Phantom Menace' were filmed in a canyon near Sidi Bouhlel, now known as the "Star Wars Canyon." The captivating landscape of this wild and spectacular gorge looks otherworldly, which is why it was chosen to represent Tatooine in these films. Within the impressive walls of Sidi Bouhlel, the Sand People attacked Luke Skywalker just before he met Obi-Wan Kenobi for the first time. During filming, the Libyan government became alarmed upon spotting a large suspicious military vehicle near its border, prompting George Lucas to relocate his Jawa Sandcrawler elsewhere.
Chott El Jerid
This enormous salt lake located in the Sahara Desert in southern Tunisia was the site for the exterior shots of the Lars homestead, where Luke Skywalker grew up in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The remote desert landscape was chosen for the iconic scene where Luke stares at the two suns in Tatooine’s sky. As the salt flat set was abandoned after filming, the production team had to rebuild it to shoot scenes for the prequel Attack of the Clones. Today, restoration work has left the set in its original state with its recognizable igloo structure at the center of an endless desert. Did you know that the giant skeleton of the Krayt Dragon that C-3PO walks past in A New Hope is actually from a 1975 Disney film called One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing? That film required transporting an artificial diplodocus from the studio to this location, where it still stands stoically.
