The third largest city in Tunisia, Sousse is widely known among fans of civilized recreation in the Maghreb. Its history goes back 2, 5 thousand years. In ancient times, the city was called Gadrumet and was known as one of the centers of the Phoenician state of Carthage. He sided with Rome in the Punic War and was its colony under Trajan and Diocletian. Then the area came under the rule of the Arabs, the city got its modern name, and a new era began in its life. The turbulent past has left its mark on the city's appearance, and tourists will always find something to see in Sousse and its immediate environs.
Even in winter, Sousse is popular with Europeans. In Tunisia, thalassotherapy centers are especially popular and prices for services in the low season are significantly reduced.
TOP 10 attractions of Sousse
Medina of Sousse
The medieval part of the old Arab cities is traditionally called the medina. Translated from Arabic, this word means "city". The history of any settlement began from the medina. It was surrounded by a wall, the streets inside were an intricate labyrinth, which significantly reduced the enemy's chances to quickly capture the historic center during an armed invasion.
Walking through the medina in Sousse, you can look at the architectural monuments of the Middle Ages and feel the rhythm of life in the old city.
The construction of the historic center began in the 8th century. under the Aghlabids. On the plan, the medina has the shape of a rectangle outlined by the city walls with rounded teeth. Significant fortifications and religious structures are located in the corners:
- The southwest corner is fortified by the Kasbah with the Al Khalef tower. The tower is the tallest structure in the historic part of Sousse.
- A ribat with a watchtower is built in the northeastern corner of the old city.
- The domes of the Sousse Grand Mosque rise to the east.
- The Bu-Ftata mosque at the southern gate of the medina is also worthy of attention. Its graceful minaret from the 18th century. decorates the panorama of the city.
- The small Eddamou Mosque is famous for its prayer hall, whose cylindrical vaults date from the 11th century.
Medieval buildings give the medina a special flavor and charm. Walking through the maze of streets, follow the navigator or the map! It is very easy to get lost in the Arabian medina, and in order to get out you will need the help of local residents.
Ribat
The most fortified building of the medina was built in the 8th century. The oldest urban architectural monument is called ribat and is a small fortress. Murabit warriors lived and carried out military service outside the walls of the ribat. During the aglabite campaigns of conquest in the 9th century. ribat was a military base.
When erecting the fortress, the Arabs used building material taken from the ruins of Roman buildings. This is especially noticeable when looking at the entrance gate, decorated with a portico with typical Roman capitals and columns.
The southern part of the ribat is famous for the prayer hall, the dome of which hangs over the entrance. Historians believe that this small mosque is the oldest in the country. In general, the ribat gives the impression of a simple but very harmonious structure.
Big mosque
A couple of dozen meters from the ribat near the harbor, you will find another important attraction of Sousse. The Great Mosque looks a bit like a fortified fort. The reason for the architectural features was the enemy's attempts to seize the city medina. From the sea side, the structure is even protected by a pair of watchtowers. There is no minaret at the Great Mosque of Sousse. Its role was usually played by the watchtower of the nearby ribat.
The inner courtyard of the prayer house is surrounded by porticos with compositions of arches. The frieze on the tops of the galleries is decorated with calligraphic writing, which mentions the founders and builders of the mosque. Roman antique columns and capitals are used in the interior design, and moldings are used for the decoration of the domes.
Kasbah
A powerful fortress in the southwestern part of the medina reliably closed this corner of the old city from the claims of foreign invaders. A fortification of this type is called a kasbah in Arabic architecture. In Sousse, the Kasbah is easy to spot thanks to the majestic watchtower called Al Khalef.
The honor of designing and building the tower belongs to the architect Khalef al-Khata. Al-Khalef was built in the middle of the 11th century, as evidenced by the Kufi inscription on the southern wall of the medina. With the advent of the Kasbah and the signal tower, ribat ceased to carry defensive significance and turned into a religious and educational center.
A powerful searchlight is installed at the top of the tower, the light of which is visible for several tens of kilometers. This allows Al Khalef to serve as a beacon for ships.
The architectural ensemble of the medina
The old part of Sousse is literally filled with historical and architectural monuments. Sightseeing tours with professional guides will help you to look at the medieval splendor and not get lost in the narrow streets.
During the walk, you will definitely be shown:
- Ezzakak madrasah, built in the era of the Aghlabids. An octagonal minaret, decorated with ceramic tiles and erected by the Ottomans in the 18th century, rises above it.
- Mausoleum of Sidi Buraui, considered the patron saint of the city. The saint rests in a wooden hearse, and the inner courtyard of the tomb is richly decorated with carvings.
- Al-Kobbu is an architectural structure decorated with a unique dome. It is pleated in zigzags and dates from the 11th century. Al-Kobba is adjacent to the caravanserai, which today houses the Museum of Folk Traditions of Sousse.
- Seely-Ali-al-Ammar. It is worth looking at this mosque, if only because it was built in the distant 11th century. The interiors of the model hall are impressive with the luxury of decoration. The multi-colored relief rosettes are especially picturesque.
- The underground reservoir Sofra, which supplied the city with water from the 11th to the 20th centuries.
The medina of Sousse, Tunisia, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988.
Dar Esid
Want to see how Tunisians lived a hundred years ago? The traditional home of a wealthy Sousse family has been converted into a museum called Dar Esid. It is located within the walls of the medina just north of the main bus station.
The center of the museum is an open courtyard, from where you can go to any room of the house: to the women's bedrooms (the owner of the house had at least two spouses), to the children's quarters, to the kitchen and to the male half. All rooms are furnished with national furniture, the windows are covered with curtains, dishes and other household utensils necessary for life are kept in the cupboards. You will see national costumes, cooking appliances, cradles, weapons and other exhibits preserved by the organizers of the museum. Most of the items were made at the beginning of the 19th century. The house is equipped with a steam room and a bathroom, trimmed with Carrara marble.
Archaeological Museum
The second largest collection of mosaics in Tunisia in terms of importance and variety of exhibits is located in the Archaeological Museum of Sousse, opened in the Kasbah in the historic center of the city. Surrounded on two sides by gardens, the museum is of undoubted interest for the lover of history, architecture and ancient applied arts.
The restored premises in the fortress, where the exhibits are displayed, perfectly underlines the general idea of the museum. Among all the ancient Roman mosaics that have survived over the centuries, the images of the heads of Medusa the Gorgon and Neptune, which are particularly realistic, are especially worthy of attention of visitors. Another priceless exhibit is a baptismal font of Byzantine origin.
Port El Kantaoui
The resort suburb of Sousse offers a chic and varied vacation for amateurs. Here you will find golf courses and riding clubs, a yacht marina and restaurants with the best Maghreb cuisine in the region, thalasso centers and sports clubs, discos and shopping centers.
The list of the main points of the entertainment program for tourists in Port el Kantaoui usually includes boat trips with a glass bottom along the bay, diving with an instructor in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, horseback riding in the vicinity, safari tours to the Sahara in jeep, golf on the local field. club with 36 holes and a variety of excursions to the sights of Sousse and other nearby cities in Tunisia.
El Jem amphitheater
An hour away by minibus from Sousse, there is the pretty town of El Jem, the main attraction of which is the antique amphitheater, which is the fourth largest in the world after the Colosseum and the arenas of Capua and Verona.
Built in the 3rd century. BC. proconsul of Rome Gordian, the amphitheater bears his name. The dimensions of its arena are 65x39 m. 30 thousand spectators could simultaneously watch what was happening on it.
The arena has been decorated with mosaics, now transferred to the local museum. Historians believe that the structure was not completed to the end and was used for a short time.
It is the Gordiana amphitheater in El Jem that is most often featured in films about gladiators, since it is much better preserved than the Roman Colosseum.
Medina Monastir
Another famous Tunisian resort is located 30 km and 20 minutes by taxi from Sousse, where you can go to see the sights and get an extra portion of your vacation.
As in other Arab cities, the main architectural monuments in Monastir are concentrated within the walls of the old city. Medina of Monastir abounds with mosques, towers, fortress walls and gates, the construction of which began in the distant IX century. It was then that the Great Mosque appeared on the map of Monastir. For its construction, the Tunisians used stone elements from the ruins of ancient Roman structures.
The fortress walls surrounding the old quarters were built in stages. Most of those that have survived to this day appeared in the X-XV centuries. The historic gateway to the west of the medina was cut in the 15th century during the Hafsid dynasty. The honor of the construction of the southern ones belongs to the Ottoman Turks, who seized the country in the 17th century, and the northeastern entrance to the medina, called Bab Tunis, dates back to the 18th century.
In Monastir, the mausoleum of Habib Bourguiba and an example of fortification architecture of the VIII-XI centuries are worthy of attention. a small fortress, traditionally called ribat in the Arab countries.
