The capital and most impressive of the five towns in M'ZAB. It was settled by the Mozabites, and austere Muslim sect of Berber origin who built this 11th-century town on hill to make it look like a pyramid; they also dug the wells and planted date palms. It contains a remarkable mosque with an imposing 22m (72 ft) high minaret; most of the houses and mosques in the town are painted white.

Siyuated 500km (310 miles) south of Algiers, Ghardaia has become an important road junction on the Route du HOGGAR acros the Sahara. It has an airport. several hotels, and an active, mixed market dealing in produce brought by caravan from all over the Sahara and the deep sought, making it an attractive stopping place for tourists. Nearby, at the holy town of Beni Isguen, the gates are closed to strangers while prayers are said from midday to 3:30pm.

The Art of Cities:

At the gates of sought, the Mozabites have invented an art of living. They have made a landscape out of each city. Life is organized around the mosque, the market place and the house. These three temples of social religion call for another one, more personal, for meditation: the family garden, in the shade of palm tree plantation. Town planners throughout the world consider Ghardaia as a reference. Never before have volumes been better inscribed in space than here; never before have intertwining more judiciously arranged; never before have colours been more delicately wed to shade and light. Beyond the walls surrounding the city, the range of ochres to the infinite...Inside the cool residences here man's two dimensions, spiritual and worldly, are locked up as in a jewelcase. To the know-how of architectures, the fertile imagination of craftsmen is added for the tourist's pleasure. Meeting the M'ZAB means starting a peaceful but vivifying dialogue with a civilization.

Ghardaia deserves a two or three-day visit. The surroundings, all of wich can be reached with a 4-wheel drive-car, hide unforgettable surprises. All palm tree plantation are to be visited; Beni Isguen palm tree plantation with its long while dam twisting through the verdure, is the most interesting. In the evening twilight, Mozabit cemeteries, especially the one in the highest part of Melika, radiate an extraordinary impression. The five cities of the "pentapolis" - firstly to be seen from Ghardaia Belvedere have been founded between 1012 and 1048. Eversince, El-Atteuf, Bou Noura, Beni Isguen, Melika and Ghardaia have kept a remarkable unity of style, characterized by religion and convivality.