Tunisia

Itinerary: Tunis – Carthage – Sidi Bou Said – Sousse – El Jem – Monastir

If you think of Tunisia and beaches with all-inclusive resorts come to mind, think again. The modest territory of Tunisia (750 kilometers from north to south and 150 kilometers from west to east) is home to various UNESCO World Heritage sites, ancient medinas and the second largest Roman amphitheater in the world.

The Republic of Tunisia is located on the northern coast of Africa, on the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, wedged between Algeria to the west and Libya to the east. The country has a Mediterranean climate in the north and a desert climate in the south and has approximately 12.5 million inhabitants, a quarter of whom live in the capital Tunis. Although Standard Arabic is the official language, a local variant, Tounsi, is generally spoken. In addition, many Tunisians speak French.

The latter is a remnant of the fact that Tunisia was a French protectorate (a euphemism for colony) from 1881 to 1956. On March 20, 1956, Tunisia became independent and a year later the new country became a republic with Habib Bourguiba as president. Bourguiba led Tunisia for over thirty years and is still considered the national hero. Streets and squares everywhere are named after him.

In 1987, Bourguiba was succeeded as president by Zinedine el Abine Ben Ali, who emerged as an authoritarian leader who manipulated elections to stay in power. Under his rule, Tunisia was plagued by corruption, repression and human rights violations. In 2010, Tunisia saw a wave of protests against the Ben Ali regime, which sparked similar protests against authoritarian leaders in a number of other Arab countries, better known as the ‘Arab Spring’. In Tunisia, the protests heralded the end of Ben Ali and formed the prelude to democratic reforms.

In the years following the ‘Arab Spring’, the security situation in Tunisia deteriorated. In March 2015, jihadists attacked the Bardo Museum in Tunis, killing twenty foreign tourists. Three months later, another terrorist shot dead 38 foreign tourists on the beach of Port el Kantaoui. While Tunisia had barely recovered from these attacks, the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.

Tunis

I begin my journey in Tunisia in the capital Tunis. The metropolis of Grand Tunis has a population of around 2.7 million, about a quarter of the total population of Tunisia. It’s a sunny November day and around 21 degrees when I begin my exploration of Tunis in the Ville Nouvelle, or ‘downtown’ Tunis. The Ville Nouvelle was, as the name suggests, built when Tunisia was a French protectorate, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Avenue Habib Bourguiba (originally called Avenue de la Marine) runs like a main artery right through the Ville Nouvelle and is a boulevard in Parisian style: wide, with lots of greenery and terraces, a pedestrian promenade in the middle and many buildings in French Art Nouveau style.

On the east side, the Avenue Habib Bourguiba is marked by a 38-metre high clock tower. The clock tower was built in 1987 to commemorate Ben Ali’s presidency, and the square around it was named after the date of his inauguration: 7 November. After the Arab Spring, the square was renamed Place du 14 Janvier 2011, in commemoration of the revolution that led to the fall of Ben Ali. Halfway along Avenue Habib Bourguiba is the Théâtre Municipal from 1902 and at the end is the Cathédrale St.-Vincente from 1897. The western side of Avenue Habib Bourguiba is marked by a statue of the Arab philosopher and historian Ibn Khaldoun. The statue is inaccessible due to the many fences and police; the heavily guarded French embassy is also located at the height of Ibn Khaldoun.

Around the corner, on Rue de Rome, is the former bank building of the Banque d’Algérie, built in the Beaux Arts style. A little further south lies the Place Mongi Bali, a small square with trees and the former Italian embassy. The square borders the larger Place Barcelone, where the Gare de Tunis train station is located. The original station was built in 1878, the current (unattractive) station building dates from 1979. From the Gare de Tunis I walk to the Marché Municipal on the Rue d’Allemagne. This market hall, built in 1891, sells fresh vegetables, fruit, fish and meat. Many locals buy their fresh groceries here and it’s quite busy.

Extending from the Avenue Habib Bourguiba is the Avenue de France, which ends at the Place de la Victoire. Here, on the east side of the old Medina, stands the Bab el Bhar (meaning Sea Gate). This old city gate was once part of the city walls that surrounded the Medina. These city walls no longer exist, so the gate now stands alone on the square. Also on the square is the Hotel Royal Victoria, a white plastered hotel that once housed the British consulate.

From the Place de la Victoire I walk into the Rue Jamaâ Ezzitouna, the ‘main street’ of the Medina, founded in 698 CE and now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Like all old Arab medinas, the Medina of Tunis is also a web of narrow streets and alleys around a central mosque: in the middle of the Medina is the Zitouna Mosque, also called the Grand Mosque. The Zitouna Mosque is the oldest mosque in Tunis, built between 856 and 863 CE. However, the 43-metre-high minaret dates from 1896 and was built after the original had collapsed. The mosque is only accessible to Muslims.

Around the Zitouna Mosque there are numerous souks, where you can buy all sorts of things. Each souk has its own specialty: in the Souk el Fekka you can buy fruit and nuts, in the Souk el Attarine perfume, to the Souk Ettrouk you go for clothes, to the Souk el Belat for spices. The Souk el Berka was once a slave market, now you can buy jewelry there. I walk through the Souk el Belat and occasionally turn into a side alley. It is also worth looking up every now and then. The souks are partly covered, sometimes with canvas, but there are also souks with brick roofs, such as the Rue Mbazaâ. There you will also find the seventeenth-century mansion Dar Othman. On the Rue Bach Hamba is the El Jedid Mosque, also called the ‘new mosque’ because it dates from the beginning of the eighteenth century. The minaret of the mosque is octagonal.

One of the most beautiful streets in the Medina is the Rue des Andalous, a beautiful photogenic cobbled street with arched gates, white plastered facades and colored windows and doors. Via the Rue du Château I pass another mosque, the Ksar Mosquée, and from there I walk out of the Medina towards Place de la Kasbah. This large square is named after the fortress (kasbah) that once stood here. The square is situated a bit higher, which gives you a wide view over Tunis.

On the square is the modern Hôtel de Ville, the city hall of Tunis, and in the middle of the square is the Monument National de la Kasbah, unveiled in 1989. Around the Place de la Kasbah are various government buildings, the Kasbah Mosque, and the Mausolée Farhat Hached, the final resting place of one of the leaders of the Tunisian struggle for independence. Via the Place du Gouvernement I walk to the Rue Jeld, through the café-filled Rue Sidi Ben Arous and past the seventeenth-century Hammouda Pacha Mosque with its octagonal minaret.

In the afternoon I order a Bolt to go to the Bardo Museum (many taxi drivers in Tunisia double as Bolt drivers). In the hall of the Bardo Museum hangs a plaque in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack in March 2015. The museum mainly contains a lot of mosaics. Mosaics were a way for the rich to show off their wealth, entire interiors (floors, walls) were decorated with mosaics. I look around the museum for an hour and then take a Bolt back to my hotel.

Carthage

On Sunday morning I want to take the train from Tunis to Carthage, fifteen kilometers away, but when I arrive at the Tunis Marine Station, I am told that the train is not running due to construction. Instead of the train, a bus is going. A ticket costs only one dinar, about 30 eurocents.

The historic city of Carthage was founded in 814 BCE by the Phoenicians on the northeast coast of what is now Tunisia, and grew to be one of the most influential cities on the Mediterranean. By the sixth century BCE, Carthage controlled a large part of the strategic trade routes and posts in the western Mediterranean. On the other side of the water, the Roman Empire was emerging. In the third century, conflicts arose between Carthage and Rome, known as the three Punic Wars and probably best known for the attempt by the Carthian general Hannibal, in 218 BCE, to attack the Romans via the Alps.

Carthage fell in 146 BCE and was razed to the ground. What is now Tunisia became part of the Roman Empire. The new Roman Carthage also grew into an important trading city. In the fifth century CE, the Vandals from the Iberian Peninsula conquered the Roman part of North Africa. In 429 CE they took Carthage and again the city was destroyed, this time permanently.

The ruins of Roman Carthage are spread over twelve sites in an area of ​​approximately three by three kilometers. Since 1979, the ruins have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The most interesting ruins are those of the Baths of Antonius. Built between 145 and 165 CE, the Baths of Antonius were the largest luxury bathhouse outside Rome. When I visit the site, there is hardly anyone else there. Although the complex was expertly razed to the ground by the Vandals, there are still (or again?) a few fifteen-metre-high columns and a number of vaults have also been spared. It is a beautiful site, partly because of its location on (and view of) the water of the Mediterranean Sea, but it is difficult to imagine what it was once like.

After the Baths of Antonius I walk towards the Punic Harbour. The prosperity of the city-state of Carthage was largely dependent on this harbour, strategically located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. There was a round military harbour with reportedly room for 220 ships, and a rectangular harbour for trading ships, surrounded by warehouses. The shape of the round harbour is still clearly visible, although the water is now in the middle of the buildings of modern Carthage. I also visit the Sanctuary of Tophet, the oldest religious site in Carthage. Ritual sacrifices were made here in ancient times, often animals, but reportedly also children. Today there is not much left of it other than (to put it unkindly) a collection of stones.

Sidi Bou Said

After my visit to Carthage I take a taxi to Sidi Bou Said, a small village a few kilometres from Carthage. Sidi Bou Said is a very photogenic village, situated on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, with white plastered houses with blue painted windows and doors and colourful bourgainvillea, on cobblestone streets.

Sidi Bou Said is very popular and it is quite busy on the Sunday afternoon that I am there. Most visitors walk through the Rue Habib Thameur, with numerous souvenir stalls, and the Rue Hedi Zarrouk up the hill, to arrive at the viewpoint on Cap Carthage. Here you have a great view over the Mediterranean Sea. Down at the foot of the cliff is the harbour of Sidi Bou Said.

It is worth leaving the busy main street and strolling through the back streets. Besides being greeted by many street cats (as is the case everywhere in Tunisia), you will also find the most photogenic spots in the quiet back streets. In the afternoon I take the bus back to Tunis.

Sousse

On Monday morning I get up early and after breakfast at the hotel I walk to the Louage Moncef Bey station. Louages ​​are shared vans and a popular form of public transport in Tunisia. They connect cities and villages and do not run at fixed times, but leave when the bus is full. The louage station is a large covered hall full of white vans, recognizable by the red stripe on the side. At the ticket office I buy a ticket for the louage to Sousse. The destinations and prices are clearly indicated and after I have paid 13.5 dinars (four euros), I take a seat in the right van, recognizable by a sign that fortunately says ‘Sousse’ in Latin as well as in Arabic.

A few minutes later ‘my’ van is full and we depart. Once out of the city we drive on the A1 motorway towards Sousse. It is a good road, mostly a toll road, and the van is comfortable. The surroundings are green, I see olive trees, date palms, here and there some cacti and agaves, and in the distance some low mountains. The drive from Tunis to Sousse takes a little less than two hours. From the Louage Station in Sousse it is a fifteen minute walk to the Medina of Sousse. It is slightly cloudy, so fortunately not too hot.

Sousse is the third largest city in Tunisia (after Tunis and Sfax) and is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. During the Roman rule the city was called Hadrumetum, by the Vandals the city was baptized Hunericopolis, and under the Byzantines this changed to Justinianopolis, but what did not change was the fact that the city was a strategically important port city. Today, tourism is the main driver of Sousse’s economy, with hotels and resorts lining the white beaches of the Mediterranean.

I first pass the Kasbah, the fortress on the southwestern side of the Medina. Built in the 11th century CE, the Kasbah now houses the Sousse Archaeological Museum. Founded in the 9th century BCE, the Medina of Sousse is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Unlike the Medina of Tunis, Sousse’s is still largely surrounded by its original city walls. Access to the Medina was (and is) via two city gates on the west side, the Bab el Gharbi and the Bab el Finga, one on the east side, the Bab el Jedid, and on the north side via the Place des Martyrs.

I walk along the western city wall and enter the Medina via the Bab el Gharbi. I immediately enter the picturesque Souk el Caïd. The heart of the Medina consists of partly covered streets with souks. A notable building is El Kobba, a tenth-century CE building with a striking ribbed dome, said to be the only one in Tunisia. On the southern side of the Medina is the Bou Ftata mosque, built in the mid-ninth century CE, except for the white square minaret, which was added four hundred years later.

Through a maze of narrow streets I finally arrive at the Bab Jedid, on the east side of the Medina. Here too, the impressive city wall is still intact. Just inside the city walls is a covered market where fresh fish, vegetables and fruit are sold. On the north side of the Medina is a building that in every way reminds me of a fortress: a fortress wall, round towers on the corners. And that is probably what it was when it was built in the ninth century, but in later centuries the fortress was converted into the Grande Mosquée de Sousse. A mosque that has to do without a minaret.

The Grande Mosquée is located on the Place des Martyrs, a more or less triangular square with shops and eateries. On the west side of Place des Martyrs is the Ribat de Sousse, built in 820 CE and thus the oldest ribat in Tunisia. Ribats are defensive structures that you can find at various locations along the coast of Islamic countries. The Ribat de Sousse is a square fortress with a watchtower. Inside is a large courtyard, surrounded by vaulted spaces that were used as storage and living areas.

El Jem

On Tuesday it’s again beautiful sunny weather and about 23 degrees. After breakfast I order a Bolt to go to the Louage Station in Sousse. For 6.80 dinars (about two euros) I buy a ticket for the louage to El Jem. A few minutes later the van is already full and we depart. We drive south via the A1 motorway. On the left and right of the road I mainly see many olive groves. We arrive in El Jem just before 10am.

El Jem is now a small village, but in the third century CE it was a bustling city with 30,000 inhabitants. The city was called Thysdrus and here the Romans built the third largest amphitheater they ever built, after the Colosseum in Rome and the lost amphitheater in Capua. The amphitheater of El Jem was probably built around 230 CE and is now on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The impressive structure is over 18,000 square meters in size, 425 meters in diameter, and could accommodate 35,000 spectators.

In such a small village you don’t expect to find such a large amphitheater. The most famous Roman amphitheater, the Colosseum in Rome, is located in the middle of the hectic city and the busy traffic. The amphitheater in El Jem, on the other hand, is very quiet. No traffic here and even better: no hordes of tourists.

Once inside, you can walk through the colonnades, where the sunlight falls beautifully. Very photogenic. And via stairs you can go all the way up to the upper ring of the amphitheater – or what is left of it, because on one side the amphitheater is still largely standing, but on the other side a large part has disappeared in the course of history.

The amphitheater is definitely worth a visit and El Jem is easy to do as a day trip from Sousse. After my visit I take another louage back to Sousse.

Monastir

Wednesday is my last full (again sunny) day in Tunisia. From the Sousse Bab Jedid station I take the metro/train to Monastir. This is a half-hour ride, for which you pay one dinar (30 euro cents). Monastir is located on a small peninsula, about twenty kilometers south of Sousse. The village, which was called Ruspina in Roman times, would be an unimportant village if it were not the birthplace of Habib Bourguiba.

From Monastir station I walk through the Medina, which is smaller and less picturesque than those in Tunis and Sousse. At the edge of the Medina is the Bourguiba Mosquée, a modern mosque from the 1960s. The mosque overlooks the Place de Président Habib Bourguiba, a large square with palm trees and a golden bust of the former president. From the square a wide promenade, marked by two Tombes des Martyrs Monastiriens, leads to a building at the end with a golden dome and two tall minarets. This is the Mausoleum of Habib Bourguiba, the final resting place of the former president.

Between the Place de Président Habib Bourguiba and the coast is the Ribat of Monastir, like the one in Sousse a fortress with high walls and towers, built in 796 CE as part of the coastal defences. Next to the Ribat is the Grand Mosquée, which looks anything but ‘grand’ right next to the Ribat. The mosque was built in the ninth century CE and is still in use.

A boulevard runs along the water of the Mediterranean Sea along a crescent-shaped beach. The fishing port looks a bit like faded glory. On the way back I pass a golden statue of Habib Bourguiba and the Bab Brikcha, the seventeenth-century city gate on the south side of the Medina. I find Monastir less impressive than the other places I visited in Tunisia, but it’s a nice day trip from Sousse.

On Thursday my trip to Tunisia ends. From Monastir airport I fly back to the Netherlands via Paris. That goes a bit differently than planned, because although the weather in Tunisia has been lovely all week, in Paris, where I have to transfer, ten centimetres of snow fell exactly on my travel day. Air traffic in the French capital is completely disrupted, resulting in delays and cancellations. My flight from Monastir is delayed by two hours, and since I had exactly two hours for my transfer, I expect to miss my connection. But in Paris my flight to Amsterdam also turns out to be delayed; I have never been so happy with a delayed flight. 🙂 Three hours later than planned I finally arrive home.