Tunisia

Sunset. TUNISIA.

Sent by Jamel from Hammamet, Tunisia. This is one of the five postcards sent by him in year 2006.

Tunisia - Hammamet

TUNISIA - HAMMAMET.

Sent by Jamel from Hammamet, Tunisia. This is one of the five postcards sent by him in year 2006.

This is from Wikipedia : Hammamet (Arabic: الحمامات‎ El-Ḥammāmāt) is a town in Tunisia. Due to its beaches it is a popular destination for swimming and water sports. It was the first tourist destination in Tunisia. It is located in the south east of the northern peninsula of Cap Bon in the Governorate of Nabeul, on the northern edge of the Gulf of Hammamet.

The reported number of inhabitants varies from 20,000 to 70,000 and the population quadruples due to tourists in the summer.

It is particularly known for jasmine, and this is how the tourist resort of Yasmine Hammamet got its name. All over Hammamet, souvenirs made of jasmine can be found.

Around Hammamet, all kinds of immigrant towns/suburbs are being built as immigrants from the southern part of the country come to find work. As a popular destination for tourists, it brings a lot of money to Tunisia.

Tunisia - Sidi Bou Said

TUNISIA - SIDI BOU SAID.

Sent by Jamel from Hammamet, Tunisia. This is one of the five postcards sent by him in year 2006.

This is from Wikipedia : Sidi Bou Said (Arabic: سيدي بو سعيد‎) is a town in northern Tunisia (it is located only 20 km from the capital of Tunisia, Tunis).

The town got its name for a Muslim religious figure who lived there, Abou Said ibn Khalef ibn Yahia Ettamini el Beji (before he came along, it was called Jabal el-Menar). The town itself is a tourist attraction as it is known for the extensive use of blue and white colors all over the town. All kinds of souvenirs (some not even remotely connected to Sidi Bou Said and sometimes not to Tunisia itself) can be bought in the main street. While staying in Sidi Bou Said for a few days is not common, tourists from Hammamet and other tourist towns usually come to Sidi Bou Said. It can be reached by a TGM train, which runs from Tunis to La Marsa.

Tunisia - Nabeul

A walk in Nabeul.

Sent by Jamel from Hammamet, Tunisia. This is one of the five postcards sent by him in year 2006.

This is from Wikipedia : Nabeul (Arabic: نابل‎, pronounced [ˈnɛːbil]; French: [naˈbøl]) is a coastal town in northeastern Tunisia, on the south coast near to the Cap Bon peninsula. It is located at around 36°27′N 10°44′E / 36.45°N 10.733°E / 36.45; 10.733 and is the capital of the Nabeul Governorate. The city has a population of 56,387 (2004 census).

A former Roman colony, its name is an Arabised form of the Greek Neapolis 'new city' (an etymology it shares with Naples, Nafplion, and Nablus).

It is a popular tourist destination and the main centre of the Tunisian pottery industry.

Tunisia - Douz

Douz : The Caravane.

Sent by Jamel from Hammamet, Tunisia. This is one of the five postcards sent by him in year 2006.

This is from Wikipedia : Douz or Dūz (Arabic: دوز‎) is a town in central Tunisia, known as the "gateway to the Sahara." In previous times it was an important stop on the trans-Saharan caravan routes. Today, it is destination for tourists who are interested in seeing the desert, and a starting point for desert treks by camel, motorcycle, or four-wheel-drive vehicle.

Douz is a major palm oasis and as such a large producer of "diglat noor" dates.

Every year Douz hosts the International Festival of the Sahara, a four-day celebration of traditional desert culture. The festival, usually held in November or December, features traditional music and dancing, poetry readings, camel wrestling, and racing of horses and salugis (a type of dog, similar to a greyhound, native to the North African desert.)

Douz is home to the Museum of the Sahara, which showcases displays on traditional nomadic desert culture of the Mrazig people who now mostly live a settled life in the town.

Tunisia - Ghorfas at Medenine

Ghorfas at Medenine.

Sent by Nesrine from Gabès in Tunisia.

This is from Wikipedia : A ghorfa (Arabic: غرفة‎ room) is a Berber architectural term used to describe a vaulted room used for storing grain. Ghorfas are often stacked as multi-story structures, sometimes reaching four stories high. Traditionally, ghorfas were grouped together as a ksar, a fortification used by Berber villages in North Africa to store large amounts of grain. Ghorfas were featured prominently in the film Star Wars: The Phantom Menace as the slave quarters of Mos Espa, home to Anakin Skywalker. These scenes in the film show ghorfas from several locations in southern Tunisia, including Ksar Ouled Soltane and Ksar Hadada.

Tunisia - Shrine of Sidi Boulbaba

Shrine of Sidi Boulbaba, barber to the Prophet Mohamed, at Gabès.

Sent by Nesrine from Gabès in Tunisia.

"Gabès's principal sight is the Mosque of Sidi Boulbaba, situated on a hill to the left of the Matmata road, on the southwestern outskirts of the town. Here too is the tomb of Sidi Boulbaba, the Prophet Mohammed's barber, who retired to Gabès in the seventh century. The walls of the courtyard (which visitors may enter) are decorated with beautiful tiles and bands of inscriptions. Immediately adjoining is the former Koranic school (medersa), which now houses a small folk museum."(read more)

Tunisia - Pink Flamingoes at Gabès

Pink Flamingoes at Gabès.

Sent by Nesrine from Gabès in Tunisia.

Tunisia - Matmâta

Matmâta.

Sent by Nesrine from Gabès in Tunisia.

This is from Wikipedia : Matmâta or Metmata is a small Berber speaking town in southern Tunisia. Some of the local Berber residents live in traditional underground "troglodyte" structures.

The structures typical for the village are created by digging a large pit in the ground. Around the perimeter of this pit artificial caves are then dug to be used as rooms, with some homes comprising multiple pits, connected by trench-like passageways. This type of home was made famous by serving as the location of the Lars Homestead, home to Luke Skywalker, his Aunt Beru Lars and Uncle Owen Lars for the Star Wars movies. The Lars Homestead was in fact the Hotel Sidi Driss, which offers traditional troglodyte accommodations. One of Call of Duty 2 missions takes place in Matmâta as part of North African Campaign. Matmata is also set to star in the upcoming film “La Soif Noire”, an adaptation of the book from Swiss author Hans Ruesch starring Antonio Banderas and Freida Pinto.

The origin of this extraordinary place is not known, except from tales carried from generation to generation. The most probable account says that underground homes were first built in ancient times, when the Roman empire sent two Egyptian tribes to make their own homes in the Matmata region, after one of the Punic wars, with permission to kill every human being in their way. The dwellers of the region had to leave their homes and to dig caves in the ground to hide from those invaders, but they left their underground shelters in the night to attack invaders, which appeared to be very effective in sending the killer groups away from Matmata. A myth was made those days, that monsters emerge from beneath the ground and kill land usurpers. In any case, the underground settlements remained hidden in very hostile area for centuries, and no one had any knowledge of their existence until 1967.

The way of survival in those severe conditions was difficult: since Tunisia is famous for prolific olive oil production, the men went searching for work north of the villages every spring, when the olive season began, getting back home in autumn, when the season was over. They were usually paid in olive oil, which they traded for other goods (in present days for money), and thus provided enough food, clothes and other things for normal life of their families.

It was not generally known until 1967 that there were regular settlements in this area besides wandering nomadic tribes. That year, intensive rains that lasted for 22 days inundated the troglodyte homes and caused many of them to collapse. In order to get help from the authorities, a delegation was sent to the community center of the region in the town of Gabès. The visit came as a surprise, but help was provided, and the above-ground settlement of Matmata was built. However, most of the people continued their lives in re-built underground homes, and only a few of the families moved to the new surface dwellings.

Today, Matmata is a popular tourist attraction, and most of the population lives on tourism and folklore exhibitions in their homes.

Tunisia - Roman Dam at Gabès

The Roman dam on the oasis at Gabès.

Sent by Nesrine from Gabès in Tunisia.

Tunisia - Medenine Market

Medenine market.

Sent by Nesrine from Gabès in Tunisia.

"Medenine is an important town in southeast Tunisia, close to Metameur and south of the port of Gabes, en route to the border with Libya. The town is the regional capital of the Medenine province and was once one of the many stops on the North African caravan route.

The traditional loaf-shaped mud cells called ghurfas were traditionally used to store grain and are the town’s main claim to fame. Although the foundations are centuries old they have been continually maintained and are now used as interesting souvenir and carpet shops. Unfortunately large areas of the ghurfa quarters were demolished in the 1920s to make way for the more modern town. Those that are left are now preserved. They contrast with the more modern architecture to provide an interesting and charming place to visit.

The ghurfa buildings were commonly used by nomads of the Berber Touazine and Khezour tribes to provide storage and a semi-permanent base where families could meet up, goods could be sold and conflicts resolved. They were built side by side and up to six storeys high, resembling a honeycomb.

From the 17th century onwards Medenine was an important market and trading centre, part of the Ouerghamma federation. At its peak the town had 8,000 small mud-built ghurfas and traders arrived from Algeria, Libya and further afield to do business.

The more modern town is friendly and lively, particularly in the evenings. Local things to do in the area include visiting the Musée de Guellala which is a museum and exhibition of the Medenine area. Medenine also makes a good base for exploring the small hill villages in the area. Large trees now provide shade over the colourful fruit and vegetable market, another of Medenine’s popular tourist attractions on Mondays and Thursdays.

Visitors will be interested to know that part of the film “Star Wars” was filmed in Medenine in the 1970s." (read more)

Tunisia - Kairouan

Grande Mosquée or the Great Mosque of Kairouan or the Mosque of Uqba, which is in the city of Kairouan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sent by Salem, a friend from Tunisia.

With the Great Mosque, the Mosque of the Three Doors, the Basin of the Aghlabids, and the other numerous archaeological remains, Kairouan bears exceptional witness to the civilization of the first centuries of the Hegira in Ifriqiya. The Great Mosque served as a model for several other Maghreban mosques, particularly for its decorative motifs, which are unique. Kairouan is, moreover, one of the holy cities and spiritual capitals of Islam. Next to the Great Mosque, the first place of worship founded in the Maghreb only 38 years after the death of the Prophet, is the Zawiya of Sidi Sahab where the remains of Abu Djama, one of Mahomet's companions, are kept.

The establishment of the garrison at al-Kayrawan by Oqba Ibn Nafìi in year 50 of the Hegira (AD 670) marked a decisive step in the history of the Islamic conversion of Ifriqa.

Replacing a temporary encampment, Kairouan became an essential element in the conquest because of its key position, midway between the coast threatened by the return of the Byzantine fleets and the mountains controlled by the Berbers, who took Kairouan in 688. But the city remained the capital of Ifriqiya, the seat of the governor representing the authority of the Umayyad caliphs in Damascus and later the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad.

When the Aghlabid emirs became practically independent from the Abbasids (800-909), Kairouan became a true capital city. The Great Mosque was rebuilt by the Emir Ziyadat Allah I in 836 and again in 862-63 by the Emir Abou Ibrahim Ahmad, who also had certain spectacular urban projects carried out. These included the Basin of the Aghlabids filled by water brought through a 36 km aqueduct from the Cherichera Djebel. During a period of civil and religious peace, the Aglabids relinquished the governor's palace and emirs had residences built a short distance south of Kairouan at Al-Abbassiya and Raqqada.

Under the rule of the Shiite imam Fatimid Obaid Allah (910-34), Kairouan at first declined somewhat in importance. The new capital Mahdia, founded in 916, was better suited to the imam's expansionist policy directed towards the Orient. However, the Fatimids returned to Kairouan, and the transfer of the Fatimid caliphate to Cairo in 972 put an end to the two-capital situation.

After the 10th century, Kairouan no longer directly participated in the major events shaping world history. The city had many religious and political problems: it was invaded and sacked by the Hilalians in 1057 and Tunis became a real centre of political power as well as one of the most populated cities in Africa. However, it never succeeded in stripping Kairouan of its status as the holy city of the Maghreb, a position it still enjoys throughout the Islamic world.

The considerable weight of history is still palpable in the medina, which is surrounded by more than 3 km of walls with its gates (Bab el Tounes, Bab el Khoukha, Bab ech Chouhada): its skyline is punctuated by the minarets and the cupolas of its mosques and zawiyas, and it has preserved its network of winding streets and courtyard houses. Very few small windows or arched doorways are cut in the exterior walls, but inner walls have larger openings that give on to the central courtyard. However, certain remarkable monuments dating from the early centuries of the Hegira need to be carefully distinguished from the profusion of more recent or remodelled religious edifices.

In their present form, these buildings date for the most part from the last three centuries. The immense majority of houses and souks in the ancient honeycomb of passageways, where a number of wells and fountains are still to be found, form a traditional and coherent urban fabric. (Source)

Tunisia - Sousse

TUNISIA
A walk in Sousse.

Sent by Salem, a friend from Tunisia.

This is from Wikipedia : Sousse (Arabic سوسة Sousa) is a city in Tunisia. Located 140 km south of the capital Tunis, the city has 173,047 inhabitants (2004). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The name may be of Berber origin: similar names are found in Libya and in the south of Morocco (Bilād al-Sūs). The city is the capital of Sousse Governorate with 540,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate). Its economy is based on transport equipment, processed food, olive oil, textiles and tourism. It is home to the Université de Sousse.