Tunis

Tunis is the capital of Tunisia, and the first stop on our Tunisian adventure.

Tunisia has a long and diverse history, which can be seen in its architecture.

The country also has a strong French influence. This is the Ville Nouvelle, the section of Tunis that the French built. The church is a mixture of Gothic, Byzantine and Moorish styles.

No matter where you turn, you see something interesting. This is an ornate door near the medina in Tunis.

The major feature in Tunis is the Medina (the old walled market). This is the Bab Bhar (or French Gate), which is at one of the entrances into the medina. This is looking at the gate with the Ville Nouvelle behind it; the medina is behind me.

The medina is a World Heritage site. It began in the 7th century and has been the focal point of the city until the French arrived and built the Ville Nouvelle. The medina is roughly divided up into different markets: this is the area for jewelery shops.

The medina is full of narrow streets lined with small shops.

One of the must see sights in Tunis is the Bardo Museum. It is housed in a former palace of the Husseinite beys. This is the entrance to it.

Inside the Bardo Museum there is a spectacular collection of Roman mosaics. The mosaics fill several large rooms.

More mosaics from the Bardo Museum.

An incredible amount of work and skill has gone into creating these mosaics.

The architecture of the Bardo Museum building is also spectacular.

This room is entirely covered with detailed stucco and colourful tiles.

This is just one of the four alcoves of the room.

In the centre of the room is a Roman mosaic deplicting the Roman gods for the days of the week.

This room used to be where concerts were held.

This room contains many Roman sculptures.

The view from upstairs.

Another richly decorated room.

Running east from the medina is a two kilometre long, tree line boulvard where people sit in sidewalk cafes drinking coffee – very Parisian. At the end is this clock tower. Notice the strange building in the background?

This is the Hotel du Lac, where I stayed a few nights.

Some people think this building was an inspiration for the Jawas’ Sandcrawler from Star Wars.

There are shoeshiners in the streets of Tunis. This one had an incredible array of colourful polishes.

The clock tower as seen from my room in the Hotel du Lac (along with peak hour traffic). After Tunis, we headed south to Medenine.