THE CAP BON PENINSULA

Just half an hour by car from Tunis-Carthage international airport lies a vast and sweet-smelling garden where jasmine, vines and roses mingle with orange and lemon trees bowing under the weight of their fruit. This hand outstretched towards Europe, a symbol of an ancient tradition of welcome and hospitality, this region of fertile plains and low plateaux, just 140 km from Sicily, dips into the Mediterranean whose effects on the climate makes this one of those blessed regions where everything always seems better than anywhere else. The agricultural vocation of Cap Bon is coupled with its remarkable success in tourism due, in particular, to the quality of its beaches and the accommodation on offer. And if any further reasons were needed to justify its popularity, the visitor will soon find them in its arts and crafts or in the traditional festivals which punctuate life on the peninsula.

In times past, due to its proximity to Europe, Cap Bon was the beachhead for Italy. Under the Carthaginians, it was an agricultural region, where the aristocracy concentrated on wine growing, a heritage which is still much in evidence today, in the form of excellent locally-produced wines, in particular Muscat from Kélibia. Its conquest by the Arabs confirmed that Cap Bon is a land which offers both contrasts and uniformity. Since the fourteenth century, this calm and welcoming region has attracted waves of Andalusian refugees fleeing the recon quest of Spain.

Lasting signs of this civilizing exodus prevail in several areas of Cap Bon; a tradition which is constantly updated, in the fine architecture of the minarets at Soliman or at Kélibia in the pleasant alchemy of the gardens of Hammamet or Korba and in the myriad of spices from Nabeul or Dar Chaâbane used in the local cuisine.