Chebika, Tozeur
Introduction A courtyard at Chebika'''Chebika''' (الشبيكة) is a mountain oasis in western Tunisia, in Tozeur Governorate.
Geography Chebika lies at the foot of the mountains of the Djebel el Negueb and, because of its exposure to the sun, it is known as قصر الشمس ''Qasr el-Shams'' ("Palace of the Sun" in Arabic). As the crow flies, it is approximately 8km from the border with Algeria.
History In antiquity, it was a Roman outpost known as ''Ad Speculum'' and later a mountain refuge of the Berber people. Ad Speculum was ''civitas'' of the Roman Province of Africa between 30 BC and 640 AD. Located on the Saharan limes just north of Ad Turres, it was a station on the road linking Tébessa and Gafsa.The modern village of Chebika has several hundred residents. It was built near the old town, which was abandoned in 1969 after catastrophic flooding in which more than 400 people died. The site, writes Jean Duvignaud, "is located at the intersection of two projections of the mountain which opens here towards the desert". The urban framework consists of a grid plan intersecting at the market place.Many scenes for the film ''The English Patient'' were shot in the Chebika oasis landscape. File:Chebika chute.jpg|Chebika WaterfallFile:Valley in Chebika, Tozeur.jpg|Valley in Chebika OasisFile:Historic Village Chebika 02.jpg|View of Chebika OasisFile:Historic Village Chebika 01.jpg|Historic Village of ChebikaFile:Mineral Geode in Chebika, Tozeur 02.jpg|Natural Mineral Geodes in ChebikaFile:Mosque of Historic Village Chebika Tozeur.jpg|Ibadi Mosque in the old village of ChebikaFile:Chebika Oasis Tunisia 1.jpg|Looking from within Chebika oasis towards the entranceFile:Chebika, Tozeur, Tunisia.jpg|Looking down on the village of Chebika
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