Things to see and do Great South

A must-see! You are here in an oasis and not a palm grove. The latter is a monoculture of palm trees, while in the oases the cultures are varied. Here it is the culture with three stages: agriculture on the ground, a second stage of fruit trees and finally the palm trees. Huge, the oasis of Tozeur has more than 250 000 palm trees, irrigated by seguias, a network of canals fed by two hundred sources. This irrigation system developed in the 13th century by the engineer Ibn Shabbat allows to calculate the water needs according to the trees and their altitude. The place is enchanting, but given its size, the visit on foot may seem tiring. One can opt for a bicycle or a carriage ride. We enter the oasis by a small road perpendicular to the street Abou-El-Kassel or to the street Ech-Chabbi. We mark a first stop at the necessary Eden Palm which allows to understand everything about the date palm, prodigal tree, its history and its ecosystem. Continuing the walk, we pass a hamlet before arriving at the gardens of Paradise. You will be able to contemplate the whole oasis by following a track that crosses the palm grove and leads you to the Belvedere, a rocky complex west of the city. After climbing a few steps carved in the rock, you will have access to a more global panorama of Tozeur: the yellow sand of the city, the white of the chott, the green of the palm grove... You will be able to see the Sahara. The luckiest ones will even sleep in the heart of the oasis!

A walk in this oasis allows you to discover the gardens hidden in the shade of the palm trees. Traditionally maintained for centuries by the various families who own the gardens, they provide fruit, vegetables and cereals. Like its big sister Tozeur, we practice here the three-storey crops (agriculture, fruit trees, palm trees). The oasis is also home to many birds. By car, coming from the city of Nefta, in the direction of Algeria, about 1 km away, you can enjoy a beautiful view of the oasis.

One of the curiosities of Nefta, to be discovered by taking the road of the tourist area. It is a small natural depression, a basin dug in the rock where palm trees are planted. This layout emphasizes in a striking way the contrast offered by the desert landscapes that surround the city and the oasis. The oasis of Nefta was once irrigated by more than one hundred and fifty sources. Some of these springs meet at the bottom of what is called "the Basket". By placing itself at the edge this one, one enjoys a beautiful panorama on the city and the surroundings.

This amazing complex brings together a museum, a medina of the Thousand and A Nights and the Dar Zamen with its sounds and sounds, a gallery that revives scenes of Tunisian life, contemporary or old, festive or daily. The Thousand and One Nights in the Medina show the Diamond Valley, Ali Baba and the forty thieves. You then moved to an extraordinary world, from the belly of the cobra to the medina of Baghdad, frightening caves in the palace of the Sultan. We emerge dazzled, a little lost after being dragged back in childhood and had a full eye. The period costumes worn by the museum's staff bring a further note of truth to these reconstructions, which go through Bedouin tents and traditional Turkish cuisine. For more charm and excitement, it is advisable to visit the museum at night. In the lobby there is a small courtyard and a nice café. In another cafe, on the floor overlooking the site, you can enjoy a mint tea in a fairytale setting. Mr. Cheraït (Maire Mayor) recently opened a new space by condemning the museum's restaurant. The sound and light Show Dar Zamen (entrance 6 DT) reproduces the period dwellings of the zone and the Ksours De, it evokes 3 000 years of country history, in the Disney way!

Located 15 km from Nefta, Oung Jemel (or "camel's neck") is famous for the sets of the movie Star Wars, at the GPS point 33° 59' 32" N - 7° 50' 41" in the middle of the chott Garsa. The site is quite surreal. You will see the Chott el-Gharsa, this saline depression generating mirages. You will find Mos Espa, the hometown of Anakin Skywalker (the future Darth Vader) because it is where the first Star Wars movie was shot. The #SaveMosEspa campaign helped save the film's sets from being buried by the advancing dunes, which are moving 50 feet a year.

The Red Lizard was offered by France to the Bey of Tunisia who used this train to travel with his relatives. For a long time it only had a tourist role and ran on the railway still used by the mines to transport phosphate. It had six cars (including the beylical car) and a bar car where refreshments were served to passengers. It was the only means of transport to reach the famous gorges of Selja. The locals strongly regret its closure, just like the tourists who used it!

This old mill is out of service. Little return 50 years earlier… 40 kg of olives are deposited on the stone base to be mixed with about 4 litres of hot water. With blindfolded eyes, a donkey or a little slug causes the 150 kg mineral to grind the olives. The mixture is then deposited in traps in braided fins. Stacked, the traps are compressed by a lever system. The oil thus obtained ends in terracotta jars.

Tozeur's Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions is a charming little museum housed in a former marabout. In these few rooms, Souad and her husband welcome you with all their heart, as if they were receiving friends. The museum is small, but very cute. The bridal room is particularly pretty, and the old kitchen full of traditional objects. Souad knows Tozeur and its history inside out, and is sure to enliven your visit with songs and poems.

The desert Zoo hosts all kinds of desert animals: scorpions, snakes, fennecs, gazelles, kebab, lions and the outstanding camel drinker of Coca-Cola! You can reach it by turning left on the road of the tourist area, in the direction of the restaurant Le Petit Prince. The guided tour begins with the tropical garden, where one walks among apricot, palm trees, banana trees, bougainvilleas and jasmines, continues through the animal park and ends with the inevitable souvenir shop.

Chak-Wak is an entertainment park created in 2006. It spreads over 5 hectares in the heart of the palm grove and is organized around the theme of the history of humanity with many activities on site. Among the amenities: the café, the restaurant, the space reserved for families. Musical evenings are also organized regularly. The museology is rather dated and the site is unfortunately poorly maintained. But the setting among the palm trees is still beautiful and children may find it interesting.

Composed of two basins, they are the only remnant of Gafsa. A few years ago, the inhabitants of Gafsa were happy to bathe there. Above the pool, a large ostensibly contemporary fresco represents Neptune. The redevelopment of the site was carried out in 1993.

Dating from the 15th century and built on Byzantine ruins, the Kasbah of Gafsa is located behind the courthouse. It was restored after having been particularly damaged during the Second World War by the explosion of a German ammunition depot. A very pleasant garden, fed by thermal springs, brings calm and serenity. This place contrasts strongly with the tumult of the city. It is a pleasant place for a walk that we recommend during your stay in the city of Gasfa.

Built by the Aghlabids and enlarged by the Hafsids, the Great Mosque of Gafsa is the third largest mosque in Tunisia. It would have seen the day between the year 800 and the year 909. As often in Tunisia, non-Muslims are only allowed to visit the courtyard. Its architecture is identical to that of Kairouan and the Zitouna mosque in Tunis. The court is surrounded by columns with capitals borrowed from other ancient monuments. Only the minaret is recent (and dates from the twentieth century), since the old minaret was in ruins.

Bypassing the Roman site and skirting the fortress, one reaches, by a little frequented entrance, the quiet palm grove with narrow roads. Extending in a rectangle of about 4 km by 3 km, it surprises by its high density and the height of its palm trees. One finds there a multitude of trees or fruit plants and sometimes even an inhabited house. In some places, the forest which clears up lets appear splendid landscapes with the red ochre of the mountains in background of this green ocean, under a deep blue sky.

Nefta is distinguished from Tozeur by its major religious role. Second holy city of Tunisia after Kairouan, it welcomes since the ninth century Sufi pilgrimages. The city has many religious buildings: two mosques and more than a hundred marabouts punctuate its landscape with their white domes. The most famous, located at the edge of the Corbeille, is the marabout of Sidi Bou Ali, a Sufi saint of the XIIIth century. It is the oldest place of pilgrimage of the city. Pilgrims still come from all over the country to venerate him.

Nefta is also known for its white sand dunes, located about 10 km from the city. There are horse-drawn carriages waiting for customers on avenue H.-Bourguiba. It's a bit long by carriage, but very picturesque. You can also go there by car, it is signposted. At the foot of the dunes, camels are waiting to take you to the top of the dune where you will have a breathtaking view of the desert, especially with the light of the sunset and a striking silence. It is also possible to make this walk on foot, about 20 minutes.

The mosque of Bled el-Hadhar (or Blad El Hadhar) is built on Roman vestiges which were used as a basis for the construction of the minaret, it was enlarged in the twelfth century, its official date of construction was set at 1193. Although smaller in size, its shape resembles the Okba Mosque in Kairouan. Its courtyard is framed by four galleries. A median nave shares the prayer room, going from the entrance to the mihrab.

The medina of Tozeur is one of the most beautiful in Tunisia. Called Ouled el-Hadef district, it dates in places from the XIVth century. You enter here in a tangle of alleys with vaulted walls and built with these superb sand-colored bricks. The medina of Tozeur is entirely built with these bricks of clay moulded with the hand and whose geometrical reasons in relief on the frontages of the houses symbolize the richness of the owner. These symbols would have a magic-religious significance. Take time to stroll in the coolness of the streets. Here you come across a small square once used to "park" dromedaries, with superb carved doors, there you stop in a bortal, these long vestibules with date palm ceilings that keep the coolness perfectly. Further on you recognize one of the many mosques, identifiable by the green door. You also have fun finding the Corinthian capitals and Roman columns from the surrounding ancient sites. Dar El Hadef is the first house of Tozeur. Today it is open to the public and its visit allows you to understand a little better the history of the medina. It is not perfectly maintained and it is a pity. Here and sometimes elsewhere, the houses of the medina of Tozeur are neither perfectly maintained nor completely renovated. The medina is also quite dirty in places. Let's hope that the classification in progress to be included in the Unesco world heritage will make this architectural jewel better preserved!

A small museum on the history of Gafsa, quite interesting for history lovers. The collections are divided into two groups: the first is made up of tools (in flint and carved stone or bone) from the prehistoric period, which are linked to the Capsian culture, while the second brings together various pieces (statues, ceramics, mosaics, etc.) from the Roman, Byzantine and Vandal periods. Two mosaics in particular, that of Venus fishing and that of the athletic games and pugilism, are particularly beautiful!

Abou el-Kacem Chebbi, born in 1909 in Tozeur and died on October 9, 1934 in Tunis, is a Tunisian poet considered by some as the national poet of the country. Despite his early death, due to poor health, he published seven volumes of poetry, some of whose lines are now part of the national anthem of Tunisia. In this pleasant mausoleum paved with colorful mosaics, you will learn more about his life and read some of his poems in Arabic, but also in French.