fter long hours driving through endless scrub, negotiating mountains, a billowing sandstorm, camels and rusting car wrecks, we finally arrived at Ghadames. Located 600km south-west of Tripoli, deep in Libya's barren region of Tripolitania, the soaring white-and-ochre walls of this palm tree-fringed town seemed an incongruous sight.

The name of Ghadames has been known for at least 2,000 years, although its present compact structure was developed by Muslim Arabs in the 7th Century, after which it expanded over the centuries. Perfectly designed to combat the desert winds and harsh climate of the northern Sahara, this oasis town – a Unesco World Heritage site known as "the pearl of the desert" – is one of the Sahara's greatest architectural showpieces, and a spectacular example of environmental planning.

With temperatures reaching more than 40C (they peak at 55C in summer and sink below zero in winter), my guide Manshour and I immediately plunged into the labyrinth of dark shadowy passageways. As we made our way through the sinuous zinqas (arched alleyways roofed with palm wood), shafts of sunlight streamed through occasional skylights, bringing illumination and ventilation. "The number [of skylights] reflects the importance of the street, helping orientation, and they also keep the temperature at about 20C," Manshour explained. "The idea behind the curved passages is to stop gusts of desert sand blowing through."

fter long hours driving through endless scrub, negotiating mountains, a billowing sandstorm, camels and rusting car wrecks, we finally arrived at Ghadames. Located 600km south-west of Tripoli, deep in Libya's barren region of Tripolitania, the soaring white-and-ochre walls of this palm tree-fringed town seemed an incongruous sight.

The name of Ghadames has been known for at least 2,000 years, although its present compact structure was developed by Muslim Arabs in the 7th Century, after which it expanded over the centuries. Perfectly designed to combat the desert winds and harsh climate of the northern Sahara, this oasis town – a Unesco World Heritage site known as "the pearl of the desert" – is one of the Sahara's greatest architectural showpieces, and a spectacular example of environmental planning.

With temperatures reaching more than 40C (they peak at 55C in summer and sink below zero in winter), my guide Manshour and I immediately plunged into the labyrinth of dark shadowy passageways. As we made our way through the sinuous zinqas (arched alleyways roofed with palm wood), shafts of sunlight streamed through occasional skylights, bringing illumination and ventilation. "The number [of skylights] reflects the importance of the street, helping orientation, and they also keep the temperature at about 20C," Manshour explained. "The idea behind the curved passages is to stop gusts of desert sand blowing through."