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Hamuda Pasha Mosque
There are mosques all over the medina; interiors are off-limits to non-Muslims. The finest include Hamuda Pasha Mosque, a 17th-century, harmonious, richly decorated building that reflects the prosperity of the times. Its witchs-hat minaret is octagonal - typical of the Turkish Hane
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Dar Jellouli Museum of Popular Traditions
Dar Jellouli Museum is in a classic courtyard house, built by a wealthy merchant family in the 17th century, and is filled with beautiful carved-wood panels, rich tile decoration and ornate stuccowork. The displays include traditional costumes and jewellery, but the building is the
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Cave dAli Berbere
Ali is an endearing old guy who claims that the cave, supported by a series of stone arches, dates back to Roman times. Hell demonstrate pottery-making as it used to be done, climb into a massive amphora to show how Ali Baba and his 40 thieves were able to hide, and take you to an
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Grande Mosquée
This 9th-century mosque, 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. Non-Muslims cant cross into the richly decorated prayer hall, but the doors are l
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Sofra Cistern
This great underground cistern, once the medinas principle water supply, was created in the 11th century by enclosing a large Byzantine church. Its an eerie place with the columns of the church rising from the black waters. The entrance is on the northeastern side, but the battered
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Old Port & Markets
The old port, lined with cafés, its multicoloured fishing boats making squiggly reflections in the water, is an enchanting place for a stroll. Two blocks west of the ports southern end is place Bouchacha, now the centre of a vast outdoor and indoor market where locals come to find
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Abbes
Further on from old quarter of Bled el-Hader is the village of Abbes where the tomb of marabout (holy man) Sidi Bou Lifa stands in the shade of an enormous jubube (Chinese date) tree. There are lots of paths leading off into the palmeraie along the irrigation canals. Its delightful
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Spanish Fort
Built from 1570 to 1573 by Ulj Ali, the military ruler of Algiers, after he had booted out the Spanish (thus the confusing name), this fortress overlooks the medina from the north. All that remains are two long wall sections and one citadel. The views across the town, over the mode
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Borj Ennar
Borj Ennar is a small fort added in the 17th century to protect the southeastern corner of the medina, and is now the headquarters of the Association de Sauvegarde de la Medina, the group responsible for preserving the medina. They have a good map of the medina showing all 69 mosqu
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US War Cemetery
Around 750m along the road from the cisterns, a neat forest of white crosses bears testament to the Americans killed here during WWII. There are 2840 graves at the US War Cemetery, and a Wall of Remembrance to 3724 others never found. Like all war cemeteries, its dignified simplici
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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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