Ghadames or Ghadamis /ɡəˈdæmɪs/ (Ghadamsi: ⵄⴰⴷⴻⵎⴻⵙ / Ɛadēməs [ʕadeːməs], Arabic: غدامس, Italian: Gadames) is an oasis town in the Nalut District of the Tripolitania region in northwestern Libya.

In the 1st century BC, the Roman proconsul Lucius Cornelius Balbus invaded Cydamus during the reign of emperor Augustus.

The population quickly converted to Islam and Ghadames played an important role as base for the Trans-Saharan trade until the 19th century.

However, Italy's hold on the city was interrupted several times until June 1915, when a general rising throughout Libya caused the Italian garrison to retreat from Ghadames to the stronghold of Tripoli.

In 1943, Free French forces occupied Ghadames and its surrounding area in the southern part of the former Italian colony of Libya, forming the Military Territory of Fezzan-Ghadames until Libyan independence in 1951.

[11] After being captured by the Libyan National Army, the entire Tuareg community was forced to flee in an act of ethnic cleansing.

[12][13] The old town, inscribed in 1986 as a UNESCO World Heritage site, was de-populated of its inhabitants throughout the 1990s, leaving the old buildings at risk of collapse due to a lack of maintenance.