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Dar Lasram
Dar Lasram is a magnificent mansion. From the 18th century, the Lasram family provided the beys (provincial governors) with scribes. Today its home to the Association de Sauvegarde de la Medina, who oversee medina conservation. The interior has magnificent intensely tiled rooms and
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Zoo du Paradis
Ironically, or cynically, or simply honestly named, the Zoo du Paradis, on the southern side of the palmeraie, is anything but for the animals housed, if it can be called that, in tiny cages. The star turn is a Coca-Cola-drinking camel. The closing time isnt set in stone and paradi
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Sahib El
Sahib El-Tabía Mosque dates from the 19th century, when Halfouine was an emerging fashionable quarter. It forms part of Tunis only külliye - a medersa , souq, hammam (public bathhouse) and tomb complex. Its almost Venetian looking; the railings and black marble were imported from t
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Sufetula
One of North Africas best preserved ancient Roman cities, Sufetula is awash with temples, monumental arches and bath complexes that speak of an ancient civilization that really knew how to live. With its Byzantine-era basilicas and remote, windswept, end-of-the-earth location, this
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Kalat el
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. Its thought to have been built in the late 11th century AD. The most striking feature is the cupola with it
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Bab Bhar
Bab Bhar, also called the Porte de France or French Gate, is a huge freestanding arch that was the medinas eastern gateway until the surrounding walls were demolished by the French to create place de la Victoire. Note rue des Glaciéres, leading off to the north - this is where huge
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Libyan market
On Monday and Thursday, rue Taieb Mehiri, the road that leads directly back to town from the fort, is the place to find the Libyan market. Traders from Tunisias neighbour to the south once set up shop here though these days its T-shirts, jeans and other everyday Western goods. Its
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French Architecture
Theres some attractive French architecture from the 1920s and 1930s along rue de Grèce. On one building at the corner of rue dIstamboul, you can see a faint painted sign pointing the way to an abri-public (bomb shelter) that dates from the Nazi occupation - the collaborationist loc
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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
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Roman Theatre
The Roman theatre has been largely reconstructed, forming an impressive, if not Roman, venue for the annual Carthage International Festival. The tiered seating is original; its thought it could accommodate 5000 spectators. Excavations show that it was lavishly decorated, with lots
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Medersa Bachia
Medersas are schools for study of the Quran. They declined in the late 19th century when broader education came into vogue. Fine examples - mostly still used as schools - are clustered around the Zaytouna Mosque. The 1752 Medersa Bachia has what was once a small public fountain bes
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Magon Quarter
The Magon Quarter is a few blocks south of the Antonine Baths. Excavations have uncovered a small area of Roman workshops superimposed on a 5th-century BC Punic residential artisans quarter. Its now surrounded by a garden. Like the Byrsa quarter, the layout is ordered, and the smal
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Beaches & Promenade
The beaches north of the kasbah , situated a few hundred metres east of the main road, are sweeping and balmy but are fronted by a string of rather isolated hotels. Further north, up past the Y-junction (about 3km from the kasbah ), ave de la Corniche, another favourite venue for a
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Musée du Sahara
A visit to the small folk museum provides some perspective and context on the desert lifestyle. It has a good collection of regional costumes, a mock nomad tent and an interesting section explaining the tattoos worn by local women. There is also information on camel husbandry and a
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Fishing Port & Marina
Houmt Souqs busy little fishing port is at the northern end of ave Habib Bourguiba, about a 25-minute walk from town. Early mornings are the busiest and most interesting times to visit. Also out in the same direction is a brand new multimillion-dollar marina complex of apartments,
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Grand Souq des Chechias
One of the biggest souqs is the Grand Souq des Chechias, where dusty shopfronts are brimful with blood-red hats, and you can see them being shaped and hammered. In the 17th century, this was one of Tunisias biggest industries. A million red-felt skullcaps, used originally as the ba
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Medersa Palmier
Medersas are schools for study of the Quran. They declined in the late 19th century when broader education came into vogue. Fine examples - mostly still used as schools - are clustered around the Zaytouna Mosque. Medersa Palmier, still a Quranic school, was constructed in 1714 on t
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Great Dune
Douz is the most convenient place to get a taste for the Sahara, though its really only a taste. The Sahara desert proper starts 50km south of the Zone Touristique. Unless youre planning a longer excursion into the desert, the action centres around the great dune. It cant compare t
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Kasbah
Frequently used as a film location, this pine-scented fortress dominates the city from a spur running off Jebel Dyr. There are great views looking out across the rolling blue-green landscape dotted with trees. A stronghold of some sort has occupied this site since the 5th century B
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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
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