Things to do in Central Tunisia
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Soula Shopping Centre
Located at the entrance to the medina, this mega four-storey complex is probably the largest price-fixed centre in the country. Most credit cards accepted.
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Restaurant-Café Seles
Restaurant-Café Seles is a cozy little spot with cushion benches, perfect for a drink or food.
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Great Mosque
The Great Mosque, in the northeast corner of the medina, is North Africa's holiest Islamic site. It's also known as Sidi Okba Mosque, after the founder of Kairouan who built the first mosque here in AD 670. The original version was completely destroyed, and most of what stands today was built by the Aghlabids in the 9th century. Entry is with the multiple-site ticket.
The exterior, with its buttressed walls, has a typically unadorned Aghlabid design. Impressions change once you step into the huge marble-paved courtyard, surrounded by an arched colonnade. The courtyard was designed for water catchment, and the paving slopes towards an intricately decorated central drainage…
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ribat
The ribat is northwest of the mosque and is the oldest monument in the medina, built in the final years of the 8th century AD.
The entrance is through a narrow arched doorway flanked by weathered columns salvaged from the ruins of Roman Hadrumètum. The small ante-chamber was the last line of the building's defences - from high above the columns, projectiles and boiling liquids were rained down on intruders. A vaulted passage opens out into a courtyard surrounded by porticos. The ribat, designed principally as a fort, was garrisoned by devout Islamic warriors who would divide their time between fighting and silent study of the Quran in the tiny, cell-like rooms built into…
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Museum Dar Essid
This small, private museum is also not to be missed. In a quiet part of the medina, it occupies a beautiful old home, furnished in the style of a well-to-do 19th-century Sousse official and his family. The dimensions of the elaborately decorated, arched door are the first indication of the owner's status. It opens into a small anteroom for meeting strangers, and then into a tiled courtyard surrounded by the family rooms.
A plaque in the courtyard reveals that the house was built in AD 928, making it one of the oldest in the medina. There's an extravagance reflected in the Andalusian tiled façades and items ranging from European antique furniture to traditional perfume bot…
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Boujaffar Beach
Sousse's Boujaffar Beach, with its multi-kilometre stretch of high-rise hotels, cafés and restaurants, is the city's landmark. Named somewhat incongruously after a local Muslim holy man, the soft, sandy strip is a playground where families picnic, children frolic, foreigners sunbathe and the warm, calm waters of the Mediterranean is everyone's bathtub.
Only a few small parts of the strip are claimed by beachfront hotels with chaise lounges and parasols. Though these are usually not roped off, they are 'protected' by staff that generally looks kindly on foreigners while tending to treat rudely any Tunisians who wander through. Access to these areas is generally open to no…
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Kairouan Medina
Less commercial than other medinas in the country, Kairouan's feels even more like it ebbs and flows to a different rhythm than modern Tunisia. Most of it is given over to quiet residential streets whose rather derelict façades are set off by grand and ornate doors, and windows, arches and shutters in bright blues and greens, more reminiscent of the Caribbean than of North Africa.
It's possible to wander much of the medina without being confronted by a single souvenir-buying opportunity as virtually all of the commerce is restricted to the main north-south thoroughfare of ave 7 Novembre. Here you'll find several carpet shops selling high quality products and all the usua…
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Zaouia of Sidi Sahab
This extensive zaouia, about 1.5km northwest of the medina, houses the tomb of Abu Zama el-Belaoui, a sahab (companion) of the Prophet Mohammed. He was known as the barber because he always carried three hairs from the Prophet's beard with him, and the zaouia is sometimes referred to as the Mosque of the Barber. While the original mausoleum dates back to the 7th century AD, most of what stands today was added at the end of the 17th century.
The additions include a funduq to house pilgrims, a medersa (Quranic school) and a mosque. Entry to the zaouia is with the multiple-site ticket. The entrance is along an unusually decorative marble passageway that leads to a stunning w…
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Great Mosque
The Great Mosque is a typically austere Aghlabid affair. It was built, according to a Kufic (early Arabic) inscription in the courtyard, in the year AD 851 by a freed slave called Mudam, on the instructions of the Aghlabid ruler Abul Abbas. Mudam adapted an earlier kasbah (fort), which explains the mosque's turrets and crenulated wall, as well as its unusual location; the great mosque is usually sited in the centre of a medina.
The mosque is also unusual in that it has no minaret; its proximity to the ribat (fortified Islamic monastery) meant that the latter's tower could be used to call the faithful to prayer. The structure underwent 17th-century modifications and 20th-c…
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Maison du Gouverneur
This 18th-century residence of the former beys or pashas of Kairouan called the Maison du Gouverneur, signposted as 'Tapis-Sabra', is an exquisitely restored medina house and an extravagant counterpoint to the austerity of the Aghlabids. The interior is a sumptuous combination of cedar and teak, marble latticework, plaster moulding and elegant tiled arches adorning the entrance hall, harem and reception hall where the governor received official guests and held meetings.
The house doubles, of course, as a carpet shop; after watching a woman demonstrate the painstaking art of carpet making (women make the carpets, men sell them), you'll be expected to view the carpets. If y…
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Sousse Archaeological Museum
Sousse's excellent archaeological museum occupies the southern section of the old kasbah.
One of the best collections of mosaics in the country is housed in the rooms around the kasbah's two main courtyards. The highlight is the room on the northern side of the entrance courtyard with exceptional exhibits, including the Triumph of Bacchus, which depicts the Roman god of wine riding in a chariot at the head of a parade of satyrs, as well as many superb fishing scenes. Other rooms contain a collection of funerary objects from a Punic grave beneath the museum and a resident artist demonstrating the patient and painstaking artistry of mosaic-making. Note that there is no entr…
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Aghlabid Basins
These cisterns, built by the Aghlabids in the 9th century are more impressive because of their engineering sophistication than as sights in themselves. Water was delivered by aqueduct from the hills 36km west of Kairouan into the smaller settling basin and then into the enormous main holding basin, which was 5m deep and 128m in diameter. In the centre of the main pool was a pavilion where the rulers could come to relax on summer evenings.
Most visitors do nothing more than peek at the cisterns from the rooftop of the syndicat d'initiative office nearby, but you can enter with the multiple-site ticket.
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Bir Barouta
The Bir Barouta, just north of ave Ali Belhouane, was built by the Ottoman ruler Mohammed Bey in 1676 to surround the well that features in the city's foundation legend. Its waters are supposedly linked to the well of Zem-Zem in Mecca. The scene itself is a little staged for the uninitiated with a blinkered camel turning the wheel to draw water from the well for people to taste.
That said, this is an important religious moment for most visitors, many of whom genuinely believe that the well is connected to Mecca. Entry is with the multiple-site ticket.
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Planet Food
For homesick Americans, this Planet Hollywood imitator should do the trick. From the movie posters to the headshots of famous actors to the TVs playing movies and videos, Planet Food is all American. However, it's Tunisians who mostly come here, young people on dates and families enjoying the enormous menu at cheaper prices than the tourist traps. Pizzas, hamburgers, fish, chicken, salads, etc are served. Paella for two is delicious.
Until the kinks are worked out don't be surprised if the service is desultory.
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Mosque of the Three Doors
The Mosque of the Three Doors, 250m northeast of the Bir Barouta, was founded in AD 866 by Mohammed bin Kairoun el-Maafri, a holy man from the Spanish city of Cordoba. The interior is closed to non-Muslims, but the main feature is the elaborate façade, with its strong Andalusian influences. The mosque's three arched doorways are topped by intricate friezes of Kufic script (two of which name the mosque's founder) interspersed with floral reliefs and crowned with a carved cornice. Well worth a detour.
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Souq er-Ribba
This souq (market) is the closest Sousse comes to a medieval bazaar. The roof is unmistakably modern, yet the sales-pitch beneath it is age-old. Far from the tranquillity of the southern medina, Souq er-Ribba forms the commercial heart of the medina. The place is a riot of colour, packed with haggling merchants, browsing tourists and barrow boys trying to squeeze through with their improbably overloaded carts. This is not the world's most evocative bazaar but worth exploring nonetheless.
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Coffeehouses
There are plenty of outdoor places to enjoy a coffee, soft drink, mint tea or a sheesha (water pipe). Most popular in the evenings are the tables strewn around place des Martyrs in front of the Hôtel Sabra.
Just south of here near the intersection of ave Hamda Laaouani and ave de la République are two good coffeehouses: Café Belhadj and Café Amar.
Just north of the medina in front of Bab Tunis is the Café Les Soirées de L'Orient.
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Caracas
One of the better places to eat in the city centre, frequented by young and hip Tunisians, Caracas is built to resemble some version of the Latin American city. Well, there are faux stone walls and colonial archways but it's a modern restaurant with TVs tuned to Arab language music videos. The eclectic menu has everything from pizza to deli sandwiches and Tunisian and western standards. The enormous chicken omelette is a meal unto itself.
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Zaouia of Sidi Abid el-Ghariani
Just inside the Bab ech Chouhada, the restored Zaouia of Sidi Abid el-Ghariani dates from the 14th century and contains some fine woodcarving and stuccowork. The zaouia (complex surrounding the tomb of a saint) also houses the tomb of the Hafsid sultan Moulay Hassan who ruled from 1525 to 1543. There are no official opening hours, but you're most likely to find it open in the morning. Entry is with the multiple-site ticket.
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catacombs
The catacombs include an estimated 5.5km of tunnels containing the graves of more than 15,000 local Christians, mostly from the 4th and 5th centuries AD. The only section open to the public is about 100m of the Catacombes du Bon Pasteur, named after an engraving of the bon pasteur (good shepherd) found inside. Most of the graves have been bricked in; a few have glass fronts, revealing skeletal remains.
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Centre des Traditions et des Métiers d'Art de Kairouan
To see carpets being made without the hard sell, the Centre des Traditions et des Métiers d'Art de Kairouan, just north of Bir Barouta on a side street leading to the souqs, was set up by ONAT to promote local handicrafts. The rooms upstairs are set up to demonstrate traditional techniques for weaving, embroidery and carpet making. The artisans are usually happy to show you how it's done.
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Sousse Medina
Sousse medina probably has the most interesting combination of religious and historical monuments. It is also one of the most convenient places to shop in all of Tunisia. Besides an enormous array of traditional shops, and souvenir shops that operate on the barter system, there are many price-fixed centres scattered around the medina and along blvd de la Corniche in the Ville Nouvelle.
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Kasbah
Standing at the high point of the medina, the kasbah was built onto the city walls in the 11th century. It incorporates the imposing square Khalef tower, built by the Aghlabids in AD 859 at the same time as the city walls, which superseded the ribat as the city's watchtower. It's now a lighthouse.
Note that there is no entrance from inside the medina walls.
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Kalat el-Koubba
The Koubba was an ancient funduq (caravanserai or inn) and the rooms surrounding the courtyard are now given over to mannequin displays of day-to-day life under the Ottomans. It's thought to have been built in the late 11th century AD. The most striking feature is the cupola with its remarkable zigzag ribbing; the fluted interior is just as impressive.
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Zaouia of Sidi Amor Abbada
This zaouia, identifiable by its seven white cupolas, was built in 1860 around the tomb of Sidi Amor Abbada, a local blacksmith with a gift for prophecy. He specialised in the production of oversized things, like a set of giant anchors (now standing north of place des Martyrs) that were supposed to secure Kairouan to the earth. Entry is with the multiple-site ticket.
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