Zaouia of Sidi Abid Al Ghariani

Tunisia


Dating from the 14th century, this two-storey complex features horseshoe arches painted in black and white, marble columns with carved capitals, a painted Moorish-style ceiling and plenty of fine woodcarving, tiles and stuccowork. It was built as a school by a Kairawani scholar called Al Jadidi, whose student Abou Samir Abid carried on his teaching and was eventually buried here.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Tunisia attractions

1. Bir Barouta

0.07 MILES

Here a blinkered camel walks in a circle, drawing water from a 17th-century holy well that legend says is connected to the Zamzam spring in Mecca. It's…

2. Makhroud Bazaar

0.12 MILES

Just off the medina's major pedestrian thoroughfare, this bazaar next to Restaurant Marhaba is dedicated to Kairouan's much-loved makhroud (date-filled…

3. Mosque of the Three Doors

0.17 MILES

Founded in AD 866 by Mohammed Bin Kairoun El Maafri, a holy man from the Spanish city of Cordoba, this mosque has an elaborate facade exhibiting strong…

4. Medina

0.22 MILES

Kairouan’s medina feels like it ebbs and flows to a different rhythm to modern Tunisia. Long protected by its monumental walls and babs (gates), most of…

5. ONAT Museum

0.23 MILES

This museum in the Office National de L'Artisanat headquarters houses a collection of rugs. This is the organisation that accredits all carpets sold in…

6. Zaouia of Sidi Amor Abbada

0.41 MILES

Identifiable by its seven white cupolas, this zaouia (complex surrounding the tomb of a saint) was built in 1860 to commemorate Sidi Amor Abbada, a local…

7. Great Mosque

0.46 MILES

Also known as Sidi Okba Mosque, after the founder of Kairouan who built the first mosque on this site in AD 670, this is North Africa’s holiest Islamic…

8. Zaouia of Sidi Sahab

0.8 MILES

This lavishly tiled 17th-century complex northwest of the medina comprises a mosque, madrassa (school for study of the Quran) and mausoleum. The last is…