Ghudamis

Ghudamis or Ghadames (both: gədä`mĕs), town, W Libya, in an oasis in the Sahara, near the borders with Algeria and Tunisia. It was long an important caravan center on the route from Tripoli to West Africa. The town was held by the Romans and was captured (7th cent.) by the Arabs. In 1830, it submitted to the dey of Tripoli. The town was occupied by the Italians in 1924 and in 1943, during World War II, by the French.

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Ghadamis

 or Ghudamis

Oasis and town (pop., latest est.: 15,900), northwestern Libya. Located near the Libyan-Algerian border, it is at the junction of ancient Saharan caravan routes. It was the Roman stronghold Cydamus (whose ruins remain), and an episcopal see under the Byzantine Empire; columns of a Christian church still remain in the Sidi Badri Mosque. A centre for the Arab slave trade through the 19th century, it is now a caravan depot linked to the Mediterranean Sea coast.