FROM CARTHAGE TO SIDI BOU SAID

Destroyed no less than three times, first during the Punic Wars and later after the departure of the Crusade led by Saint Louis, Carthage is nonetheless ever-present. True, there are few vestiges of the once great power that was Carthage, but the Punic and Roman Arches, the Tophet, the Baths of the Antononi, the Antiquarium of the Hill of the Odeon and the Museum of Carthage… these are treasures indeed, and a living testimony to the existence of one the most fascinating historical sites in the world.

One should mount the Hill of Byrsa to get the best view of the Gulf of Tunis, where the bou kornine seems to float on the calm blue waters. Many painters of the School of Tunis were fascinated by the astonishing marriage of mountain and sea afforded by this view and immortalized it on canvas. From the heights of Sidi Bou Said, too, and whichever way you turn, you will catch the ever changing moods of the landscape. Sidi Bou Said embraces a multitude of sites of historical interest within its limited area: Cape Carthage, which evokes not just the Punic Wars and the Roman Presence in North Africa, but the life of the holy man and protector of the village. It is a place where one's dreams and musings are scented with the perfume of western jasmine.