Chott el Jerid Salt Flats

Jun 5, 2020 | Film sites

Chott el Jerid

Chott el Jerid is a dry salt lake located in southwest Tunisia, near the Algerian border. This salt flat is the largest salt pan of the Sahara Desert, covering about 5,000 sq km.

Star Wars Film Locations

The salt flats are also famously known for being the exterior of the Lars Family Homestead on Tatooine in the Star Wars movies. From Tozeur, you can travel about 35km to Chott el Jerid to find an igloo in the middle of the salt flats, which was used as the exterior of Luke Skywalker’s home. A large crater was dug out right next to the igloo home to make the audience believe that there is an underground structure of the home. The interior scenes were actually filmed in Hotel Sidi Driss, located in Matmata about 300km away.

After the filming of the original Star Wars films, the igloo was taken apart but was later rebuilt in 2,000 for the filming of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. You may recall this film set from several scenes, including Shmi Skywalker’s funeral in Attack of the Clones, and the last scene in Revenge of the Sith. This site was later renovated by Star Wars fans between 2010 and 2012.