Qasr Farafra is a village located on the top of a white chalk hill and the actual fortress sits on a ridge overlooking the surrounding desert. It is the only inhabited village of the entire depression. Never heavily populated, in 1874 there were just 345 people, and by 1892 the population had grown to 542. It was probably built on top of a Roman fortress, but its current mudbrick incarnation dates from Medieval times. Part of the remains of the fortress is still inhabited. The modern village of Qasr Farafra is spreading out below the fortress. There are still some areas of the old quarters left. There is a small local museum (Badr Museum) run by a man called Badr, a local artist, who displays various local crafts, taxidermy, sculptures and paintings. Pharaonic cows roam the streets of the village (CISS Inventory 2010; Vivian 1990).
Site coordinates: N 27 05 135 E 27 58 671
