The Monuments

At the heart of the medina you will find a city centre full of life and entertainment with its traditional souks and cafes, the Rhaba. The surrounding buildings are inspired by Italian, Tunisian, Moroccan or oriental architecture.

The Medina is full of reproductions of symbolic monuments related to the different eras and civilizations of Arab history. The Skia al kahla gate for example is representative of Fatimid architecture. The Red Dome is as a jewel of Arabic architecture in Sicily and the Golden Tower, recently transformed into a marine museum is one of the most beautiful testimonies of the Muslim civilization of Seville. You may also admire the Blue Tower, a tribute to the Majorelle Garden in Marrakech.

Further away stand the ancient walls of the city of Mahdia dating from the 10th century, as well as the ruins of the ramparts of the city of Sfax. Theses incredible memorial sites are will allow you to dive into Tunisia’s legends and history and legends.

Bab Diwen

Located at the east side of the Medina Méditerranea, the wall is pierced by a second door whose name recalls this time that of one of the doors of the city of Sfax. Sfax was founded by the Aghlabids of the ninth century; It was under their rule that its Berber name of "Isphaqus" was given to it, it means the city protected by a belt. Surrounded by a solid wall, delimiting a total area of ​​24 hectares, the medina had only two entrances, one to the north called Bab al-Jabli and the other to the south called Bab al Diwan. The limitation of the number of gates comes from the fact that the ancients often regarded the gates as points of weakness, which had to be defended, even if part of the economic activities took place there. The door was then used as a place of trade as well as an organ of defense and protection.

This is precisely the case of the seaport of the city of Sfax, called Bab al Diwan, which it formerly gave on the anchorage of the city, Marcha, and gathered around it, in an esplanade, the money changers, the merchants of the port, Sailors and fishermen. It was from this gate that the products of the handicraft and agriculture of Sfax, as well as salt, alfa and sponges passed through to the Muslim East and the Christian West. It was there that the goods imported from Europe were unloaded. Facing this door, was the European quarter which was built in the 18th century by the Bey of Tunis on land won over the sea. Bab al Diwan has access to double baffles, has been the object of several campaigns And restoration, from the aghlabid period, date of its construction, until recently. During the Sfax uprising against the French occupation, Bab Al Diwan was severely affected by the bombardments, but its restorations are careful to preserve its historical character.

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