MOS ESPA
Mos Espa village, simile of Mos Eisley in the prequels, has been completely constructed for the "Phantom Menace" in the salty desert of Chott el Gharsa, 50 kilometers away from the nearest settlement. The sets are made of wood, chalk and cloth, in a carpentry in the town of Tozeur. Accessories like, plane turbines, moisture vaporators, metal detritus have been imported from Europe by a cargo plane.
Though left naked - accessories and adornments have been brought back of respect to the environment - the beauty of the buildings is unique: at first by their design, inspired by the architecture of South Tunisia, secondly by the concern given to detail. Each building has a particular characteristic but still keeps the homogeneous style: through size, roundness of the roof or shape of the entrance, for example.
Access to Mos Espa is possible thanks to a comfortable track beginning in Tozeur. It was made on the demand of the producers of the movie "The English Patient" to get to the natural setting of that movies desert scenes (which are obviously the same as for Episode I). Tunisian authorities insisted that Lucasfilm keep the set intact after the fiming, so that they could make a tourist attraction out of it. As a result, many travel agencies propose excursion by jeep in that wonderful desert city today.
Mos Espa during the shooting, summer 97 |
|
Same place, winter 98 |
|
Mos Espa during the shooting, summer 97 |
|
Same place, winter 98 |
|
| Mos Espa during the shooting, summer 1997 |
|
Same place, winter 1998 |
|
| Mos Espa during the shooting, summer 97 |
|
Same place, winter 98 |
|
| Mos Espa during the shooting, summer 97 |
|
Same place, winter 98 |
|
ARCHEOLOGY
Rescued in August 1997, here are a few bits of Mos Espa setting.
| a door |
|
an intercom |
|
| a door switch |  |
| a moisture vaporator |  |
| arm of a moisture vaporator |  |
