2024

LA CÔTE SAUVAGE

Natural Crafts
3/5
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The beautiful wild coastline stretches along the west coast of Djerba. Here, there are no buildings on the seafront, except for a few mosques that were once used as watchtowers. Take the road along the coast from Ajim in the late afternoon, heading north: you will have the setting sun in front of you and will be able to appreciate the wild landscape between the Mediterranean and the rocky landscape planted with palm trees! Stop at the beach of Sidi Jmour with its small eponymous mosque, about 16 km north of Ajim. Built at the beginning of the 17th century, the Sidi Jmour mosque owes its massive appearance to the military role it played for a long time. Indeed, the 18 mosques built on the coast of Djerba also had a defensive role. To remain discreet, these mosques had no minaret and were rather "packed", they are sometimes called dwarf mosques. They were topped with a lantern that served to send messages from one mosque to another in case of attack. This same lantern is lit today at the time of the prayer. All along the coast are also small beaches of jagged rocks where Djerbian families come to picnic. You will also meet men who practice traditional fishing. They plant palm branches in the sea forming corridors that narrow little by little to reach a trap. These assemblies of branches are judiciously placed by taking into account the marine currents. An art to be observed during your walk along the coast.

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