THE CENTRAL COAST & © Kairouan & CentralCoastThe 180 the Mediterranean becometheholiday playgroundforwhatseemstobeallofEurope. more along incongruous,sight.Duringthesummermonthsbeachresorts and certainly El-Jem rivalsthatofRome’s interms ofsheersize butmaybe aneven more spectacular, dina andJerusalemasoneoftheholiestcitiesIslam.The well-preserved colosseumof andfinalresting placeforthe country’sindependenceleader,HabibBourguiba.birthplace village andisbyfarthemostinviting,’sashoppingparadise,Monastir’s aGreek lookslike fishing Each isdistinctive: ’sistheleasttouchedbytourism,’s lives inwhat,totheaverage foreigner’s anelaborate eye,lookslike andexoticHollywoodset. houseTunisiansfrom thetradeofMediterranean andtheSahara, goingabouteveryday designed forthebusloadsofforeign visitorsthatfuelmuchoftheeconomy. and brochures, where architecture andlandscapesunchangedforcenturiesmeetfacilities commute togetfromonetheother. ittakes the short This istheTunisia ofpostcards ism, frombastionsofthetourist-industrial-complex toquiet,timeless villages,isbeliedby medinas toexclusive fromreligious toWestern modernbeachresorts, hedon- conservatism monument, thisregion insuperlatives. ishardlylacking ancient Itsdiversity, fromfortified tant mosques,several ofthecountry’slargest anditsmostimpressive beachresorts Roman ofTunisiaConsidered bymanytobetheheartland andhometooneofIslam’smostimpor-

L       HIGHLIGHTS o It is also ’s Islamic heartland, with Kairouan ranking onlybehindMecca,Me- It isalsoTunisia’s ranking withKairouan Islamicheartland, medinas,whichonceprotected The thesecitiesthatbecamewealthy centralcoast’sfortified n       e far stroll alongthepromenade ofSousse’s asunset ofthevastparade taking Become part these ancientcities live andwork,in medina inthecountry,toseehowresidents of Explore the bustlingalleywaysofthebest (p195) city ofKairouan Listen forthecalltoprayerin theholyIslamic walk aroundCap d’Afrique in Take light ona intheseaairandwonderful Archaeological Museum magnificent mosaicsondisplayatEl-Jem’s workmanship thatwentintocreating the and atthecolours,details,art Marvel some impressive Romanmonument,El-Jem’s awe- ’sGawp atthesheersize most ofNorth l y

P l

a (p187) Beach n e (p203) colosseum t (p204) (p207) Mahdia (p209 ) Sfax Boujaf- Kairouan El-Jem Sfax Sousse Mahdia THE CENTRAL COAST & KAIROUAN

SEA 181 Remla Île Sidi Frej Chergui ﺳﻮﺳﺔ Île Gharbi 82 MEDITERRANEAN Mahdia Islands Salakta Ksour Essaf Kerkennah Sidi y

r Youssef r

e 00 20 km 12 miles

Gulf of F ὄ 1 Sfax Hammamet El-Hencha Monastir Sebkhet Moknine El-Jem 1 119 Mahrès Sousse Sahline Jemmel Port el-Kantaoui 96

To (80km)

Enfidha Airport 1 87 Pipeline Oil Souassi 81 (50km) To Gabès 14 48 Sebkhet 12 Sidi el-Hani ὄὄ 1 2 Sebkhet Kelbia 13 2 Kairouan Bouhaija To Tunis (80km) The Ville Nouvelle is where you’ll find is where The Ville Nouvelle 2 THE CENTRAL COAST CENTRAL THE & KAIROUAN Ouled To (100km) To (85km) To Sbeitla (75km) the bulk of facilities designed for tourists: the bulk of joints, restaurants mini-malls, fast-food shops. with quadrilingual menus, souvenir to head to the medina for some- You’ll have authentic; it hasn’t escaped the thing more but you’re mad tourism circus completely, once history and culture guaranteed a bit of SOUSSE pop 173,000 Sousse city and its is Tunisia’s third biggest enduring popularity as a tourist destination is somewhat baffling: loud, brash and an odd traditional and 1980s mass-tourism mix of it’s not exactly what most peo- architecture, in mind for their holiday. ple would have flooding in. SousseAnd yet the crowds keep as it is is at least as popular with foreigners with Tunisians: witness summer evenings on Boujaffar Beach, town seems when the entire to be out for a stroll on the seafront. Getting Around Getting Around the easiest ways are or train louage Again, connec- no direct are around. There to get El-Jem. and tions between Kairouan 3 THE CENTRAL COAST & KAIROUAN •• Sousse Sousse •• KAIROUAN & COAST CENTRAL THE ὄ ὄ ὄὄ ὄὄὄ ὄ ὄ ὄὄ ὄ

All the towns covered in this chapter are are in this chapter All the towns covered Indigenous took umbrage at Berbers at took umbrage Indigenous In modern Tunisian history, Monastir

well connected to the rest of the country of to the rest well connected taxi) and (apart (shared by bus, louage is easily the train, which from Kairouan) mode of most comfortable and convenient travel. Getting There & Away Getting There & Away The new Enfidha airport, 40km north of going Sousse, was due to open at the time of to/from Transport options to get to press. re- unclear at the time of the airport were make is bound to search but its proximity (along with Monastir’s it another gateway airport) to the central coast.

Climate hot in sum- very Tunisia’s central coast gets never from a sea too far mer but you’re The further you go inland, the hot- breeze. in bake and El-Jem – Kairouan it gets ter cold in winter. summer, but can be quite History between coastal bulge the large The Sahel, Gulf of and the Hammamet the Gulf of always beenGabès, has a battleground Sousse, the home wars. for other people’s in the Carthaginian bat- Hannibal base of itselfthe Romans, again found tles against made it side when Pompey on the losing war in his doomed civil his headquarters against Julius Caesar (based at Monastir). wave by the first It was finally destroyed that swept across North Islamic armies of TheseAfrica in the 7th century. Islamic Kairouan city of armies founded the holy Islamic dynas- of in the reign and ushered the were which of ties, the most productive (who left a splendid architectural the coastal towns) and the legacy in all of (whose mark can still Fatimids -based be seen in Mahdia). by over being taken their traditional land with the Whether confronted foreigners. from the north or the Is- lamic dynasties from the east, they fought rebel- after them all, mounting rebellion destroyed Kairouan. which lion, one of During another, they held out against in the colosseum vastly superior numbers El-Jem. of the nation’s as the birthplace of is revered Bourguiba. founder, Habib lonelyplanet.com