CAIRO — The ancient village of Shali stands as a formidable fortress in the middle of the Siwa oasis in Egypt's Western Desert. Built in the 13th century to protect the inhabitants of this remote strategic location 340 miles west of Cairo, Shali today is on the verge of rebirth as a destination for ecological tourism.
After seven centuries of habitation, a three-day wave of heavy rain in 1926 severely damaged the buildings of the village, which had been constructed from a mix of salt, rock and clay called “kershef.” As a result, most residents were forced to relocate outside the village. Over the decades, the village began to be referred to as the “City of Ghosts,” due to only a few of its buildings being used, as remains the case today.
