Douairat Ksar is one of the oldest and first palaces in southern Tunisia. It is a Berber Amazigh palace located about 20 km from the city of Tataouine. Its construction dates back more than 2000 years, as the Berbers were the first to invent the construction of the palace. It consists of more than 170 rooms for all members of the tribe, each of whom owns a room or two according to his financial capacity. However, it is now almost destroyed by French artillery shelling in the early years of colonialism. The palace is located at the top of Mount Douerat, that is, at the summit, and climbing to this Ksar is difficult for anyone other than the residents of the area. It can only be climbed on foot, not by horses or camels, in order to avoid invasion by other tribes. As for the foot of Mount Douerat, there are the ghirans, that is, the plural of ghar (which is a cave carved into the mountain and used for housing, as it is warm in winter and cool in summer, and is estimated at 16 meters inside the mountain). Their numbers are estimated at more than 250 ghars along the mountain, the most famous of which is the “Al-Ghazi” cave, which is a group of ghirans that form a maze. Here, the Berbers’ defensive experience and their resistance to external invasion are evident. Associations and organizations are active in preserving this region, perhaps the most important of which is the Association for the Preservation of the Douerat Heritage asnaped
