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7 th Day |
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[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Day 1 Tunis By Night ] [ Day 2 Bardo Museum // Nabeul //El Jem ] [ Day 3 Gabes Matmata Tataouine ] [ Day 4 Gafsa Lezard Rouge Chebika Tamarza Tozeur ] [ Day 5 Douz ] [ Day 6 Port Kantaoui Sousse ] [ Day 7 Monastir Mahdia ] [ Day 8 Carthage // Sidi Bou Said // Departure ]
Sousse is the centre for some of the fastest advancing investment schemes
of Tunisia. All along the northern beach, modern hotels have been, and are still
being, built. They all come in the same fashion: Hotel with bar, restaurant and
swimming pool. If you cross the main road, you're right on the
beach.
The
beach strip closest to the centre of Sousse is extremely crowded, mainly by
Tunisians, coming here as full sized families. It's
easy to get in contact with people here, and the attitude is easygoing.
NAME:
From the French " monastère", or " monastery").
LOCATION :
165 km south-east of Tunis, 24 km east of Sousse, 80 km east of Kairouan.
Railway station at Sousse. Skanes-Monastir international
airport.
DIALING CODE: 03.
Monastir, 9th century walls and an imposing Ribat tower over a
modern resort complex and the result is amazingly harmonious.
Monastir captures that blend of the traditional and modern that
characterizes Tunisia. A marina nestled in the shade of the walls provides a
enjoyable promenade as does the long avenue that offers the bluest of
Mediterranean seas on one side and open air terraces of hotels, restaurants
and coffee houses from where you can enjoy the view.
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The
"monastery" after which the town was named, was built by an Islamic
religious order in 797 to defend the town from roaming nomadic tribes and
Byzantine warships. The fortress houses a lovely museum of Islamic art and
artifacts.
The promise of
Mahdia has a tendency of coming almost true. While wandering around the city,
many of the elements of the city's past is spotted, but it either is too
obviously restored, or too little. In the 10th century Mahdia was a very
important city, but even more, it was the capital of one of the Muslim worlds
most important line of rulers, the Fatimids. The first Fatimid ruler declared
himself as the Mahdi, the last prophet of Islam.
The Fatimids moved their centre to Egypt after conquering Cairo, and Mahdia
had been the capital for just 50 years.
Mahdia was chosen as the capital because of the proximity to
the sea, and the promontory on which an important military settlement had been
since the time of the Phoenicians. With a wall 10 metres thick, man and nature
had built one of this coast's best fortresses. The move of the Fatimids did
mean that it was less thoroughly defended, and invasions by Christians,
Normans and Turks in the following centuries lead to heavy destruction of the
original bastion.
Entering today's
Mahdia is greatest part of the visit. As you pass through the 10 meter thick
wall, that functions as the gate to the city, history feels close. The city
never opens after this, and all over Mahdia narrow streets never extends
beyond small squares. Mahdia's great charm are the narrow streets, trees, the
life of the locals, the cafés. The only really open part of the city is in
front of the Great Mosque, which is only great in size,- otherwise it is a sad
attempt to reconstruct the mosque of the first Fatimids. The base of the old
city of Mahdia is not tourism, but weaving. In the Arab world, quarters and
cities often specialized in one product which they sold widely around, and
Mahdia has a large part of the production of wedding cloth for the rest of
Tunisia.
