Streets squares and districts to visit Tunisia

Absolute heartthrob for this project, which alone justifies a visit to Erriadh and perhaps even Djerba! Open-air street art museum or work of art in itself, the Djerbahood project initially landed in Erriadh in 2014, accompanied by 150 artists from some 30 countries. Here the works of art dress the walls of a village yet well and truly inhabited. This unprecedented artistic and human project comes from Mehdi Ben Cheikh, a French-Tunisian urban art gallery owner. He proposed to the inhabitants of Erriadh, located in the heart of the island, an unusual experience: to make their village an open-air museum of street art . A total and collective work of art anchored in its environment to sublimate it. Djerbahood has allowed the restoration of the architectural heritage of Erriadh, source of a committed and sustainable tourism. In 2014 and again in 2022, masters of urban frescoes have taken possession of the walls, alleys and nooks of the village, to leave a mark, a thought, a message. In total, more than 200 murals have been created even if some have disappeared due to the wear and tear of time and the renovation of certain buildings. Djerbahood offers a bold vision of the renewal and diversification of tourism that can be achieved through the art of the twenty-first century. In perpetual evolution, this universal project has not finished revealing its inventiveness. An initiative to discover absolutely during your visit to Djerba!

The medina is accessed through Bab Diwan, a large door with three arches. It dates from the very beginning of the 14th century. It is close to the Great Mosque, built in the middle of the 9th century, then modified two centuries later under the Fatimids. At the entrance of the medina, you can buy all kinds of fresh bread. Here, there is no pressure to eat. The main attraction of the medina of Sfax, it is its various souks in the north, in particular the souk el-Djedid, close to our flea markets, and the souk el-Attarine, reserved for perfumes and spices.

At the heart of its ancient ruins we meet a family of shepherd who live on site, certainly with some ghosts. The site is magnificent, the fascinating architecture with its vaults, arcades and palm beams. It is also an opportunity to visit the interior of a mosque. Zraoua served as a shooting tray for Jacques Malaterre's Telefilm The sacred Man. The director describes this site as "a virgin site abandoned and built by Berbers with a fairly large architecture corresponding to the historical phase treated by the film that is the birth of the agglomerations and villages".

The main artery of Tunis. It crosses the whole city center starting from the Place du 14-Janvier and extending to the medina via the Place de l'Indépendance and the Avenue de France. On these Tunisian Champs-Élysées, luxury hotels and 19th century buildings with their heterogeneous architecture rub shoulders. The animation is in full swing around the cinemas, shops, newsstands and cafes. It is on this avenue that took place the great demonstrations of the revolution of January 14, 2011, including near the French embassy.

It is slightly below the museum, on the southern slope of the hill of Byrsa, and it appears as it was after the destruction of the city by the Romans. Built at the time of Hannibal, its streets intersect at right angles. From the four viewpoints located on the large Roman foundation walls, one can better appreciate the plans of the different housing units. The district of Byrsa was destroyed and burned down, along with the entire city, in 146 BC.

The former Place du 7 Novembre was renamed Place du 14 Janvier 2011 following the Jasmine Revolution and the fall of President Ben Ali.

The fountain,

in the evening, is illuminated with lights of all colors making the water dance on music projected by speakers around the square, bringing together many Tunisians. Since its renovation, the clock of the square is a strange mix between an Egyptian obelisk and the clock of the Gare de Lyon in Paris. The tower is made of openwork metal, its golden spire is gleaming, and in the evening, the electricity flows through the steel lace that rises towards the starry vault. The fountain, at its foot, silent during the day, becomes musical as soon as the night falls. One of the lively districts of the city is located south of Habib-Bourguiba Avenue, around Farhat-Hached Avenue and Barcelona Square. Small restaurants display French dishes, the atmosphere becomes feverish near the market near the place of Barcelona, the cafes are crowded.

At the height of the IndependenceSquare

, between the French Embassy and the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Cathedral, a neo-Roman building built in 1882, stands the bronze statue of Ibn Khaldun. Behind the cathedral, the rue de Rome leads to the Place de la Monnaie where the museum of the same name is located. You can continue along Avenue Habib-Thameur to Place de la République, where the pleasant Thameur Garden is located, and where Avenue de la Liberté begins, leading to the Lafayette and Belvédère districts.

The shoppingdistrict

is located on the left side of Habib-Bourguiba Avenue, when you go up towards the medina. On Khaldun Street, take a look at the Tunisian Culture House, which offers many exhibitions. This building, which formerly housed the Alliance française, has a beautiful mosaic in its center. The cinemas are numerous.

If you take Farhat-Hachedstreet

on the right, you will arrive at Barcelona square and Mongi-Bali square where the train station is located. In the center of the square stands the statue of Mongi Bali, the founder of the scouts in Tunisia. From there, you can continue by the street Abden-Wasseur, on the right, inhabited by many small shops: newspapers, photos, shoes ...

On

the

left, at the end of the street of Spain, a pedestrian street and very commercial, stands the central market. Semi-covered, open every morning except Sunday, it enchants by its smells, its colors and its animation on the background of Arabic music.

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!