Like other ksour created by North African Berber communities, Douiret was built on a hilltop to help protect it from raiding parties.

The old village transformed into ruins is surmounted by its citadel or ksar overlooking troglodyte houses dug in the mountain and aligned in a meandering fashion along its cliff.

A path of about 3 km is lined up with abandoned dwellings mostly in ruins with the exception of the eye-catching white mosque (known as 'the palm tree mosque' or Jamaa ennakhla) at midway and a couple of renovated dwellings serving as a showcase and/or an atypical motel to host visitors and tourists.

In 1882, Douiret was chosen temporarily by colonial France as the center for its military administrative authority in the southern part of Tunisia before abandoning it in favor of Tataouine soon after that.

Today's Douiri language is infused with many Arabic words as well as Tunisian dialect with a myriad of foreign terms namely French and Italian.